Measuring Centripetal Force in Late October
10/31/2007
This particular class is doing an experiment to measure the centripetal force exerted on a rotating mass. As is the case in all the physics labs at New Paltz, students have a computerized data collection and analysis system at their disposal to help them deal with their data. This takes the drudgery out of lab work, and enables students to focus on the physics itself. (Well… not always – sometimes there’s a glitch in the system, but most of the time it’s pretty cool!)
General Physics students Giovanna, Emily, and Karissa listen attentively as Physics chair Richard Halpern (here shown in the official Physics Department uniform) explains the fine points of a piece of lab equipment.
