Photogate timers are commonly used in physics laboratories to determine the velocity of a passing object. In this application a card attached to a moving object breaks the beam of the photogate timer providing the time for the card to pass. The length L of the passing card can then be divided by this time to yield the average velocity (or speed) of the passing object: Vavg = L/t.
Topics
Laboratories
REFERENCES
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PASCO scientific, 10101 Foothills Blvd., Roseville, CA 95747‐7100; www.pasco.com.
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Giancolli, Physics (Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005).
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P. F.
Hinrichsen
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