Motion in One Dimension Phys 1401
Purpose
In this lab, you will investigate the motion of a cart that moves along a horizontal and
inclined track using a motion sensor.
Materials
Collision cart, PASCO track, motion sensor, PASCO interface, ME-9495 angle indicator,
cart launcher, stand and track-mounting bracket.
Levelling the Track
1. The track comes equipped with feet that
incorporate levelling screws. Lay a level
along the track as indicated in the figure at
right and adjust the levelling screws until
the bubble is centered between the lines.
2. Check your level by placing the collision
cart on the track. It should not roll in
either direction. If it does, readjust the
levelling screws.
Setting Up the Motion Sensor
1. Ensure that the PASCO interface is connected
to the USB port of the computer and that its
power supply cable is connected. Connect the
yellow and black cables of the motion sensor to
Channel 1 and Channel 2 of the PASCO inter-
face, respectively.
2. Open Data Studio. Click on the option Create
Experiment. (The interface icon shown below
should appear. Available channels will be cir-
cled in yellow.)
3. Click on Channel 1 (leftmost yellow circle). From the popup
menu choose Motion Sensor. If you are successful, Data Stu-
dio should depict the connected Motion Sensor as in the pic-
ture at left.
4. While still in the Setup menu, choose Position for the quantity
to be measured. (Deselect the Velocity and Acceleration.)
Close the Setup window.
5. On the left-hand side window, click and drag the Position data property down to the
Graph icon. This should open up a graph on the right window.
6. Check if the motion sensor is working properly by clicking on the Start button on the
toolbar. You should see dots plotted on the graph. Click the Stop button on the toolbar.
If you don’t see any dots, re-check your connections and repeat steps 1–6.
Version 2.2 c
°2007 The University of Texas-Pan American
