Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I need some help with a project I was given at work. I am hoping someone here can be of assistance!

I'm testing my accelerometer and the readings aren't really making sense. In my head, because it's the same weight every time I drop it and I drop from the same height each time, I thought I would get the same acceleration each time.

The data I've gotten from it so far has shown otherwise. Sometimes the acceleration will be 10.7grams and in others, it will be 4.3 grams. Is this what I should have been expecting? (The accelerometer measures in grams for some reason, which have to be converted to m/s^2)

We are going to be beginning our study soon and I was planning to attach my accelerometer to my animals soon, but I cannot do that when I do not truly understand what is happening. My goal is to measure impact force using an accelerometer.

Can anyone help me?

Hi victoriat20,

This forum is for K-12 students doing school science projects. Unfortunately we can't provide assistance for adults doing projects for work, but there are other forums online (sites like Stackexchange) where you should be able to find help.

Thanks,

Ben