DATE: 3/14/2022

LAB: Planning and Design

TITLE: Force

PROBLEM STATEMENT: A hammer is often used to force a nail into wood. The faster the
hammer moves, the deeper the nail goes into the wood. This can be represented in a laboratory
by a mass falling vertically onto a nail. It is suggested that the depth of the nail in the wood is
related to the velocity ‘v’ to the mass at the instant it hits the nail by the equation: d = kvn, where
‘k’ and ‘n’ are constants. Design a laboratory experiment to investigate the relationship between
‘v’ and ‘d’ so as to determine the value for n.

HYPOTHESIS: As the velocity of the hammer increases so will the depth of the nail.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the velocity of the hammer and depth of the nail
inside of the wood.

APPARATUS: 15cm x 10cm Wooden Board, Three 12.5 cm nails, Six Toothpicks, Chord,
Marker, Clamp Stand, Hammer, Tape Measure/Ruler, Scissors, Stopwatch.

THEORY:

The gravitational potential energy of an object of an is the energy of that object due to its
distance away from the ground. Kinetic energy is the energy that a body has due to its motion.
When an object falls from a height the gravitational potential energy decreases as the kinetic
energy increases as the potential energy is turned into kinetic energy. The equation of
gravitational potential energy (Ep) is written as;
 Ep= mgh m = Mass(kg)

g = Acceleration due to the Gravitational Field (ms-2) h = Height (m)

The formula for Kinetic energy Ek can be written as;

Ek = ½ mv2 m = Mass (kg) v = Velocity (ms-1)

As the object falls there will be a point where Ep is equal to Ek or mgh = ½ mv2 which can be
written as gh = 1/2(v2). As the object finishes its decent and hits the ground the gravitational
potential energy equals 0 and the energy is all converted to kinetic energy upon impact.
According to the equation above the height of the fall is directly proportional to the height of the
object. This matches another formula;

F(x) = mv2-mu2/2 F – Force (N) x – Height of drop (m)

v – Final Velocity (ms-1) u – Initial Velocity (ms-1)

Since the initial velocity of the object is 0 we can get remove mu2 from the equation leaving just
F(x) = mv2/2 which can be reorganized into v = √2F(x)/m. This equation shows that as the force
increases so will depth of the nail in the wooden board. This shows that as the height increases
so will the velocity and the force applied by the object and vice versa

VARIABLES:

Manipulated: The height of the hammer being dropped

Responding: The depth of the nail after impact, the velocity of the object upon impact

Controlled: The mass used, length of the nail, The type of board used.
DIAGRAM:

DRAWING SHOWING THE SETUP OF THE EXPRIMENT

PROC
DURE:

1. Collect the three nails and mark of 0.5 cm away from the tip of the nail using the marker
and tape measure.
2. Section the wooden board into three 5cm × 10cm sections using the marker and tape
measure.
3. Locate the middle of each section and mark it with an X using the marker and tape
measure.
4. Make two dots 1.5 cm apart from the mid-point on opposing sides (One 1.5 cm to the left
of the mid-point and another 1.5 cm to the right of the mid-point).
5. Using the hammer and marked nails make a 0.5cm indent into the wooden board where
marked by a dot.
6. Raise the height of the clamp stand to 30 cm
7. Set up a clamp stand in such a fashion that a hanging chord would hang directly over an
indent of depth 0.5cm.
8. Tie the chord to the hammer
9. Attach the chord 5 cm above the nail to the Clamp stand (Check with tape measure).
10. Place the nail in the left most indent in the most left section.
 11. Align the hanging hammer with the nail so that it is suspended directly above the nail
12. Using the scissors carefully cut the cord.
13. Record how long it took for the hammer to fall and make impact on the nail with a
stopwatch.
14. Remove the nail and hammer from the board.
15. Using the marker mark and record the depth of the indent on a toothpick.
16. Untie the chord from the hammer and retie on the next chord of same length
17. Repeat steps 7 – 16 once more
18. Once the two chords of same length have been used, repat steps 7 – 17 10 cm and 15 cm
above the nail.
19. Plot a graph of log d against log v

RESULTS:
TABLE SHOWING THE RECORDING FROM THE PROCEDURE

Length Height Height of Average Depth of Indent Time taken Velocity

TABLE SHOWING THE VELOCITY OF THE HAMMER AND VALUES OF THE GRAPH

Log d Log v
-2.6 -0.38
-2.3 -0.21
-2.1 -0.12
CALCULATIONS:

Equation d = kvn where k and n are constants, d is the depth of the nail and v is velocity can be
written in the form of the equation of a straight line;

d = kvn

Log d = Log kvn

Log d = log k + n(Log(v))

Log d = n(Log(v)) + Log k ≡ y = m(x) + c

Log d = y Log k = c n=m x = Log(v)

Calculate the Gradient

Y 2−Y 1
=m(Gradient)
X 2−X 1

-2.1 + 2.6 /-0.12 + 0.38= m

1.9 = m

Value for n

y = m(x) + c

log10d = (n)log10(v) + log10(k)

n = 1.9
What is the Y intercept and k?

log10d = (n)log10(v) + log10(k)

y = m(x) + c

y – m(x) = c

-2.6 - 1.9(-0.38) = c

-1.9 = c

-1.9 = log10(k)

0.013 = k

DISCUSSION:
After conducting the experiment, it was observed that the velocity of the hammer and depth of
the nail inside of the wood are proportional when placed in the equation log10d = (n)log10(v) +
log10(k). This proves the hypothesis that the velocity of the hammer increases so will the depth
of the nail.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Ensure that you read the measuring instrument parallel to your eyes so that parallax
error will not occur.
2. Make sure before the hammer falls that the nail is properly and securely fastened in
the initial 5cm indent and is perpendicular to the board.
3. Ensure that the hammer is directly over the nail using measuring instruments to
ensure alignment
SOURCES OF ERROR:

1) The measurements could be read wrong due to the angle of observation of the measuring
instrument.
2) The nail could not be properly placed in the wood leading to an angled indent
3) The hammer may not have land directly on the nail leading toward and angled indent.

REFLECTION: The results of this experiment can be related to real life through the fact that it
has been proven that the depth of an indent is proportional with the velocity of the moving object
with mass at impact. This proof allows for more possible solutions to problems the be explored.
For example, a mining company is trying to drill through bedrock but they are unable to get the
indent needed for the drill to attach to with their heaviest jack hammer. The mining company
now knowing that the velocity of an object is proportion to the indent it causes can in stead focus
in upping the velocity of the heaviest jack hammer so that it indents created will be deep enough
for the specific drill to be able to bite the bedrock and drill through it.

CONCLUSION

The velocity of the hammer at impact and the depth of the indent of the nail are directly
proportional.