Pre-Lab for the Coefficient of Drag Experiment

Read the Coefficient of Drag write-up in the lab manual. Answer these questions either on a print-out of this sheet or in your lab notebook. I will initial them and grade them 0/0.5/1 based on whether they are complete and correct as usual. Neatly tape/staple them into your lab notebook with the correct lab entry.

1. Why are coffee filters used in this experiment?

2. How is the position of the coffee filter(s) as a function of time measured?

3. Sketch the velocity vs. time graph you expect to get from the Capstone software and indicate how you will know terminal velocity has been reached?

4. When we make our graphs in excel, what quantity are we ultimately trying to determine, and how do we get it?

5. Why do we use the logarithms in our analysis of the data?