# UCD: Physics 9A Lab


• Front Matter
This section provides an explanation of what is expected from students in the laboratory portion of Physics 9.
• Lab 1: Uncertainty and Confirmation of Hypotheses
An exploration of the basic tenets of experimental science using a specific example, with particular emphasis on uncertainty and the role it plays in confirming an hypothesis.
• Lab 2: Graphical Methods of Data Analysis
We develop a means for using an experiment to determine functional dependence using graphical methods.
• Lab 3: Examining Air Resistance
We take a closer look at an effect we usually ignore.
• Lab 4: Static Friction
We employ a couple more elements of uncertainty analysis to explore the physical property of static friction.
• Lab 5: Energy Forms
We launch a spring into the air, using its own elastic potential energy, to test a claim about the percentage of mechanical energy that is lost when the coils of the spring slam together during the launch.
• Lab 6: Momentum and Impulse
In this lab we test the impulse-momentum theorem, and examine momentum and kinetic energy conservation in the context of various 1-dimensional collisions.
• Lab 7: Navigating the Conservation Laws
We perform the "Tarzan swings on a vine to rescue Jane" experiment.  Like the ballistic pendulum that appears in the text, this involves a nice combination of the conservation laws of energy and momentum.
• Lab 8: Rotational Dynamics
We compute the moment of inertia of a ring using its mass and geometry, they seek to confirm this calculation by observing how it reacts dynamically.
• Lab 9: Static Equilibrium
We use what we know about static equilibrium to study a system consisting of a metal bar, strings, and pulleys.
• Back Matter

This page titled UCD: Physics 9A Lab is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Tom Weideman directly on the LibreTexts platform.