Measuring the acceleration of gravity


At 8:00 only two students were present. A demonstration of the independence of mass and falling time was demonstrated using the above marbles and metal spheres. 

The board set up by class end. The various accelerations of gravity permitted an explanation of the emergent truth of science. Science does not care what you choose to believe, you are free to believe anything you want. Science, however, is built on emergent truths, demonstrable facts, testable theories, falsifiable predictions. 

The introduction was brief and direct. 

McGievens times and drops, Moira steadies the meter sticks, Mor-Jacinta records data at the two meter mark


Jaysleen holds the meter sticks while DeAnne times the falling ball



Meraia times and drops from one meter while Alisha holds the meter stick

The tape was painted over, so non-permanent whiteboard marker was used to denote 4 meters.


Another removable mark at 5 meters


Jaysleen dropping the ball from four meters


Above are Meraia, Jaysleen, Eytriann, Moira, and McGievens. Below, retrieving and returning the dropped balls are DeAnne, Mor-Jacinta, and Alisha. 


Meraia dropping and timing, Moira recording data, McGievens dropping and timing


Meraia preparing to drop from four meters.


DeAnne swaps in for Jaysleen


One group had a smaller median time from five meters than from four meters. Seemingly unconvinced that the five meter time must necessarily be longer than the four meter time, the data from all three groups was gathered.


An initial attempt to use the median function led to the same issue, the five meter median was less than the four meter median. Shifting to using the mean resolved this inconsistency. One of the five meter times was long.


The combined data yielded an acceleration of gravity of 9.48 meters per second squared.  The four acceleration values were the basis of the explanation for the emergent truth in science. All of the measurements are right. All of the measurements are wrong. Yet there is an emerging truth that somewhere between seven and twelve meters per second squared is the value of the acceleration of gravity.

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