Mass vs. Force Lab

      In the past few days of Physics class, we've been working on a lab that deals with mass and force. In the actual lab itself, I, along with 3 other partners, would put various "brass masses" on a scale and record how how many Neutons each weight would have according to its mass. 

      In our lab we found that the number of Newtons was directly proportional to the mass of a weight. For example, if one weight had a mass of 0.5kg, then it would be equal to 5N; or if a weight had a mass of 1kg, then it would be equal to 10N. We plugged our data into the slope formula and the equation of a line formula and ultimately we came up with the equation f = 10m. (force = 10 X mass)With this equation we would be able to predict how many Newtons a weight would have without going to all the trouble of putting it on the scale.
      In the real world today, gravity is used in almost everything we do; it's what holds us down to the planet. In our lab, gravity was a key factor that helped us determine the force of a certain object. When holding our scale still, gravity would constantly be pulling down on our brass masses which would let us know how many Newtons each mass had. Just as gravity was pulling down on our weights, it also pulls down on everything else on the planet. For example, if we jumped out of a plane, gravity would pull us down. Just as if we held up a weight, gravity would also pull it down.

      This lab was overall very helpful and gave all of us good experience working with data, graphs, and scientific formulas. I can now better understand the connection between how gravity is used in experiments, and how it applies to everything around me.