PASCO PS-2118 User Manual

Instruction Sheet

Sensor Extension

Cable

Mounting

Bracket

Bracket

Hardware

Threaded

Hole

FAST/SLOW
RESPONSE

Control Button

2-Axis Acceleration Sensor

PS-2118

012-07781C

.

Included Items

Mounting Bracket (for PASCO carts)
Sensor Extension Cable

Required Items*

PASCO Interface
PASCO Data Acquisition Software

*See the PASCO catalog or the PASCO web site at www.pasco.com
for more information.

Other Items*

PASCO Cart
PASCO Dynamics Track
Angle Indicator (ME-9495A)

Introduction

The PS-2118 2-Axis Acceleration Sensor measures accelera­tion (change of velocity with respect to time) in two axes: x
and y. The units of measure are “g” (acceleration due to

Earth gravity), m/s
per second squared), and cm/s

2

(meters per second squared), f/s2 (feet

2

(centimeters per second

squared).
The sensor is designed to work with a PASPORT-compatible

interface (such as the UI-5100 850 Universal Interface) and
PASCO data acquisition software (such as PASCO Cap­stone) to measure acceleration in two directions.

The sensor includes a sensor extension cable and a mounting
bracket with hardware for attaching the sensor to a PASCO
cart (such as a Dynamics Cart, PAScar, or GOcar).

The Acceleration Sensor has a built in frequency response
filter with two settings: “slow” or “fast”. Use the
FAST/SLOW RESPONSE Control Button to set the fre­quency response to a range suitable for the application. For
experiments such as measuring the acceleration of elevators,
roller coasters, and automobiles, select the “slow” setting.
For applications involving mechanical systems such as cart
collision experiments, select the “fast” setting. The red
light-emitting diode in the button will light up when the
“fast” range is selected.

Setup the 2-Axis Acceleration Sensor

• Plug the sensor into one of the PASPORT input ports of
a PASCO PASPORT-compatible interface.

2-Axis Acceleration Sensor Introduction

Sensor

PASPORT

Input Port

Interface

Click the

Visibility

icon

Click a

measurement

to change its

visibility

Tap a

measurement

Tap “Show”

Arrows indicate direction

of acceleration

1.0 g

-1.0 g

• In the sensor parameter screen, tap a measurement such
as ‘Acceleration, X’ to highlight it, and then tap ‘Show’
to open a graph display.

NOTE: If more distance is needed between the sensor and
the interface, plug the sensor into the included Sensor Exten­sion Cable, and then plug the cable into the interface.

• Start the PASCO data acquisition software. Set up a data
display in the software.

Using PASCO Capstone Software

• Click the “Hardware Setup” icon in the Tools palette to
open the “Hardware Setup” panel. Confirm that the
2-axis Acceleration Sensor icon appears with the inter­face’s icon.

• Click the “Data Summary” icon in the Tools palette to
open the “Data Summary” panel. The panel lists the sen­sor’s measurement (such as Acceleration - x (m/s

2

)).

Record Data

• Click “Record” or tap ‘Start’ to begin recording data.

Direction of Sensitivity

The sensing units inside the Acceleration Sensor are oriented
so that the lines of greatest sensitivity follow the two arrows
indicating the direction of acceleration.

• Click the “Visibility” icon in the “Data Summary” panel
to see the list of measurements that will be visible by
default. Click a measurement to change its visibility.

• Click one of the display templates in the Capstone work­book page, or double-click an icon in the “Displays”
palette to open a data display.

Using SPARKvue Software

• Connect the sensor to a SPARKvue-compa tib le inter­face and start the software. The sensor parameter screen
opens and shows the list of measurements for the sensor.

In this orientation, the X-axis directions are ‘positive’ to the
right and ‘negative’ to the left. The Y-axis directions are
‘positive’ up and ‘negative’ down.

Verify the Sensor’s Output in the Earth’s Gravita­tional Field

For example, if the sensor is at rest and oriented with its long
axis horizontal as shown, the Acceleration X-axis reading is

1.0 g. If the sensor is oriented with the X-axis pointing
downward, the Acceleration X-axis reading is -1.0 g.

2

Model No.PS-2118 Specifications

1.0 g

-1.0 g

If the sensor is at rest and
oriented with its long
axis vertical as shown,
the Acceleration Y-axis
reading is 1.0 g. If the
sensor is oriented with
the Y-axis pointing
downward, the Accelera­tion Y-Axis reading is

-1.0 g.

Calibrating the
Sensor

The Acceleration Sensor is factory calibrated and no further
calibration is required.

Zeroing the Sensor

The Acceleration Sensor can be set up so that it will auto­matically zero itself when you start to record data. Or, the
sensor could be mounted in the specific orientation needed
for an experiment, and then set to zero from within the data
acquisition software,

In the graph page, tap the “Tools” icon ( ) to open the
Experiment Tools page.

Tap “Configure Sensor” to open the “Sensor Configuration”
page. Tap “Edit Sensor Properties…” and then tap “Acceler­ation Sensor” to open the “Edit Sensor Properties” page.

Using PASCO Capstone Software

Click the “Hardware Setup” icon in the Tools palette and
click the “Properties” icon (that looks like a gear) to open the
sensor “Properties” window.

Select the needed option. NOTE: The “Remove Sensor Zero
Offset” option will undo the “Zero Sensor Now” option.

Using SPARKvue Software

After SPARKvue starts, the Sensor Parameter screen shows
the measurements that the sensor can make. Tap one of the
measurements, and then tap “Show” to open a page with a
graph display.

The options are “Zero Sensor Automatically On Start:”
(default choice), or “Zero Sensor Now”. Change the default
choice if necessary and then tap or click “OK”. Tap “Done”
and then “OK” in order to return to the graph page.

Specifications

Item Value
Range: ± 10 g (typical)
Accuracy: ± 1% of full scale
Resolution: 0.010 g
Frequency Response: 6 Hz (slow), 25 Hz (fast)

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2-Axis Acceleration Sensor Technical Support

Sensor

Threaded

Hole

Larger

Thumbscrew

Smaller

Thumbscrew

PASCO Cart

Mounting

Bracket

Mounting on a PASCO Cart

Use the smaller thumbscrew to attach the mounting bracket
to the accessory tray of the PASCO cart. Use the larger
thumbscrew to attach the sensor to the mounting bracket.

Suggested Activity

Acceleration on an Inclined Plane

• Mount the Acceleration Sensor on a PASCO Cart..

• Use the sensor extension cable to connect the sensor to a
PASPORT-compatible interface. Set up the data acquisi­tion software.

• Place the cart near the top of a PASCO track that has
been inclined at some angle. Measure and record the
angle, .

• Start recording data and release the cart at the same
time.

• Stop recording data and catch the cart just before it
reaches the bottom of the track.

• Determine the average acceleration from the data.

Technical Support

For assistance with any PASCO product, contact PASCO at:

Address: PASCO scientific

10101 Foothills Blvd.
Roseville, CA 95747-7100

Phone: [phone] (worldwide)

800-772-8700 (U.S.)
E-mail: [e-mail]
Web www.pasco.com

Limited Warranty For a description of the product warranty, see the
PASCO catalog. Copyright The PASCO scientific Instruction Sheet
is copyrighted with all rights reserved. Permission is granted to
non-profit educational institutions for reproduction of any part of this
manual, providing the reproductions are used only in their laborato­ries and classrooms, and are not sold for profit. Reproduction under
any other circumstances, without the written consent of PASCO sci­entific, is prohibited. Trademarks PASCO, PASCO Capstone,
PASPORT, SPARK Science Learning System, SPARK SLS, and
SPARKvue are trademarks or registered trademarks of PASCO sci­entific, in the United States and/or in other countries. For more infor­mation visit www.pasco.com/legal.

Product End of Life Disposal Instructions:

This electronic product is subject to disposal and recycling
regulations that vary by country and region. It is your
responsibility to recycle your electronic equipment per your
local environmental laws and regulations to ensure that it
will be recycled in a manner that protects human health and
the environment. To find out where you can drop off your
waste equipment for recycling, please contact your local
waste recycle/disposal service, or the place where you pur­chased the product.

The European Union WEEE (Waste Elec­tronic and Electrical Equipment) symbol
(to the right) and on the product or its
packaging indicates that this product must
not be disposed of in a standard waste con­tainer.

• Compare the measured value of the acceleration to the
theoretical value of the acceleration (a = g sin ) where
g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s

2

).

More Information

For the latest information about the 2-Axis Acceleration
Sensor, visit the PASCO web site at www.pasco.com and
enter “PS-2118” in the Search window.

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