Inertia and Newton's Second Law Introduction When you shake an object back and forth, you feel a "resistance" to the acceleration you are causing. We commonly refer to this as the "inertia" of the object. In this lab, Smart Cart, alone and then with extra masses on board, is pushed and pulled back and forth along a track. The Smart Cart's force sensor measures the force on the cart, and its position sensor is used to find the resulting acceleration. Analysis of a Force vs. Acceleration graph allows the student to quantify the concept of inertia. Equipment Qty Items Part Number 1 Smart Cart (Blue; including Hook) ME-1241 1 Dynamics Track Feet (Pair) ME-8972 1 Dynamics Track End Stops (Pair) ME-8971 1 1.2m Starter Dynamics Track ME-9493 1 250g Cart Mass (Pair) ME-6757A Required, but not included: 1 Balance SE-8723 1 PASCO Capstone Software End stop Hook End stop Track feel . Cart masses Track feet Figure 1: Experimental Setup Written by Stuart Loucks PASCO