I'm doing a lab on centripetal force but I'm not sure how to make the graphs. If you search for "centripetal force lab" on Google and click "I'm Feeling Lucky" it will take you to the exact lab I'm doing. I'm supposed to graph Fc vs. Vt, Fc vs. Vt^2, and Fc vs. e^Vt, but I don't know which data points to use since I did the experiment with four different masses of washers, each with four trials. Since Fc = mg in this case, won't it be constant in all 4 trials, which won't change the slope? Please help.

1 answer

If Fc is the centripetal force, it is equal to mV^2/R, NOT mg.

The Fc vs Vt^2 graph should be a straight line.

I don't know enough about your lab experiment to help more than that.