User`s guide

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DATACOLLECTOR USER’S GUIDE
Chapter 9: Interval vs. Standard Mode
Interval Mode experiments use photogates, or other digital sensors, to record time
intervals only. Standard Mode experiments record values from digital or analog
sensors on a regular basis.
Interval Mode
Use Interval Mode to record time intervals with digital sensors such as photogates.
With Photogate A enabled, the DataCollector records the time that photogate A’s
beam was interrupted - this time is labeled T
A
. Photogate B is ignored.
With Photogate B enabled, the DataCollector records the time that photogate B’s
beam was interrupted - this time is labeled T
B
. Photogate A is ignored.
With Photogate A + Photogate B enabled, the DataCollector reports times for both
photogates, as well as the time between interrupting photogate A’s beam and pho-
togate B’s beam. This third time is labeled T
AB
.
Standard Mode
Use Standard Mode to make frequency, period or count measurements with digital
sensors and/or make measurements with analog sensors.
The DataCollector records data until the selected number of samples has been
reached. However, if Samples is set to Continuous, the DataCollector will not stop
the current experiment on it's own - stop it by pressing the Go button on the enclo-
sure.
IMPORTANT: In continuous mode, the experiment will
proceed until you stop it, but the DataCollector will only
record the most recent 500 data points.
Use the Rate setting to control how often the DataCollector takes measurements in
Standard Mode. You should set this sampling period to be larger than the typical
period you will measure with any sensor. For example: to measure a pendulum
with a characteristic period of 3 seconds, set the rate to at least 5 seconds/sample.