Required Practical

Investigating Motion:

  • Setup an apparatus with a trolley holding a piece of card with a gap in the centre, a light gate, a pulley system and some 100g weights

  • Measure the distance of the gap in the card and input it into the light gate’s software so it can calculate the acceleration

  • Connect the trolley to a piece of string that goes over the pulley and connects to a hook with weights

  • Measure the mass of the hook and then add a 100g and find the total mass

  • Mark a starting line so distance is kept constant

  • Place the trolley on the starting line, holding it so the string is taut and release it

  • Record the acceleration and repeat twice more for an average

  • To investigate the effect of mass, add masses to the trolley once at a time

  • To investigate the effect of force, place all your masses on the trolley and take one off each time and add it to the hook, so the total mass of the system is constant

Ripple Tanks:

  • Use a signal generator attached to the dipper of a ripple tank to create waves at a set frequency

  • Use a lamp to see wave crests on a screen below the tank, making sure the waves’ shadows are the same size as the actual waves

  • The distance between each shadow is one wavelength

  • Measure the distance of 10 wavelengths and divide by 10 to find the average wavelength

  • You can then find the speed using frequency x wavelength

Waves on strings:

  • Adjust the frequency of the signal generator until there’s a clear wave, the frequency needed will depend on the length of the string between the pulley and the transducer

  • Record the wavelength of as many waves as possible with a ruler and calculate an average

  • Use the frequency x wavelength to get the speed

Infrared Emission:

  • Place a Leslie cube on a heat-proof matt

  • Boil water in a kettle and fill the Leslie cube with the boiling water

  • Wait for the cube to warm up which you can check with a thermometer

  • Hold an infrared detector at a set distance and record the amount of IR radiation

  • Repeat this for each face and matte black should have the most and the shiny silver the least

Infrared Absorption:

  • Get 3 boiling tubes wrapped in different materials and fill them with 20cm3 of water

  • Put a bung on each tube and put a thermometer in the bungs

  • Measure the initial temperature of the tubes

  • Place the boiling tubes under a lamp for a fixed period of time

  • Measure the end temperature

Refraction

  • Place your glass/perplex block on a piece of paper and draw around it with a pencil

  • Place your ray box at an angle so the light shines on the block

  • Mark the point of origin as well as your entry and exit points of the light

  • Remove the block and find the angle of incidence and refraction from the normal using a protractor

  • Repeat with different materials and a constant angle of incidence or repeat with different angles on incidence