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Re: Air Track Ultrasonic



Try making a corner reflector out of some manila folder material and
tape it to the glider.
I find that just an edge of 2-3 cm gives a rock solid reflection.



Tom writes:
A little playing around,
moving the glider by hand, usually yields a solution. I regard any
ultrasonic whistling by the air track as urban myth/legend, even out here
in the sticks.

Tom Ford


Maybe so, but I'm with Dave on this. I have tried everything I can
think of to get usable data of vel. vs. time with CBL and airtrack without
success. The data is so erratic that it is enormously frustrating to the
students.
I have been extremely satisfied with the position/velocity/acceleration data
using the Pasco equipment. They use carts & tracks, tho, rather than air
tracks. I have a substantial investment in air tracks and CBL and, like
Dave,
would really like this stuff to work as advertised.

I note that the experiments in Vernier's lab manual don't use air
tracks.

Wes
At 08:14 AM 8/18/00 -0400, you wrote:
In trying to do a displacement measurement of a sled on an air track
with a CBL using an ultrasonic motion detector, I find that I get some
rather erratic readings that end up giving a very poor velocity vs time
graph.

I am told that the air track produces ultrasonic sounds that confuse the
motion detector. Has anyone found a way around this problem if in fact
this is what is throwing the data off? Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks, Dave Abineri


--
David Abineri dabineri@choice.net



--
*****************************
Scott Goelzer
Physics Teacher
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy
Northwood NH 03261
sgoelzer@coebrownacademy.com
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