A student uses a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for a ball to roll down

Question

A student uses a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for a ball to roll down an incline plane starting from rest. Based on the angle of the ramp, the student predicts that the ball should have an acceleration of 0.423 ± 0.001 m/s2, but the acceleration that he calculates from his time measurement is 0.437 ± 0.020 m/s2. Which of the following statements best explains his results? The measured result is not ideal because of friction. The measured and predicted values do not agree because of human error. The measured value agrees with the predicted acceleration. The predicted value is too low, probably due to an inaccurate angle measurement.

Explanation / Answer

The measured and predicted values do not agree because of human error.

Human error being the stopwatch.

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