Key ideas1 of 3
Measure acceleration with light gates
Connect a trolley to a hanging mass using a string over a pulley. A card of known length on the trolley passes through two light gates. A data logger uses the card’s interruption time at each gate to calculate two speeds, u and v, and records the time t between measurements. Calculate a = (v − u) ÷ t. In the diagram, A labels the light gates, B the pulley and C the hanger. The total accelerated mass includes the trolley, hanger and all added masses.
