Waec Model Questions Vol1 2020 Physics Question 3

A smooth horizontal air‑track is fitted with a photogate and a ticker timer. A cart of mass 0.250 kg is released from rest and passes through the photogate, which triggers the ticker timer to mark dots on a moving tape at a constant rate of 50 dots s⁻¹. The following spacing (in cm) between successive dots is recorded for the first ten intervals after the cart leaves the photogate. | Interval (n) | Spacing sₙ (cm) | |--------------|-----------------| | 1 | 2.0 | | 2 | 2.4 | | 3 | 2.9 | | 4 | 3.5 | | 5 | 4.2 | | 6 | 5.0 | | 7 | 5.9 | | 8 | 6.9 | | 9 | 8.0 | |10 | 9.2 | Using the data, determine the cart’s acceleration, the distance travelled after the 10th interval, and comment on the reliability of the result compared with the theoretical value obtained from the equation of motion for uniformly accelerated motion.