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The Penny and the Feather

Demonstrates that acceleration due to gravity is independent of mass, which implies that gravitational force acting on an object is proportional to its mass. The idea is to convince students that objects falling trough a media (the atmosphere) fall at differentrates due to resistance in the media. For this purpose, we first let the students observe a penny and a feather fall inside a transparent tube fill with air at atmospheric pressure. Then, weevacuate the air from the tube and let the students observe the these objects falling under the new conditions.
ID: d0008
Set up time:
2 minutes in class.
Requires:
Electrical outlet Components.
Notes:
You may need assistance the first time you use this demo.The tube is about a meter long, so the observing time is about halfa second -ask your students to pay attention.
Figures:
Documents:
Comments:

Table of Components

Qty. name location notes
1 Acrylic tube with Rubber stoppers and connector to hose W106; North Cabinets; U3;
1 Vacuum pump with hose W106; North Cabinets; U3;
Penney and feather stored inside the tube