Vernier Photogate

The Photogate can be used for a wide variety of experiments in physics and physical science classes.

Photogates allow for extremely accurate timing of events within physics experiments, for studying free fall, air track collisions, pendulum periods, the speed of a rolling object, among other things. The Vernier Photogate includes an accessory rod for mounting to a ring stand.

The gate has an input port so multiple gates can be connected in a daisy-chain configuration with up to four gates going to a single interface channel.

The laser gate mode requires the addition of a common pen laser, which is directed into the laser port. The laser may be some distance from the gate, so that you can measure the speed of larger objects such as a rocket, model car, or even a real automobile.

User Guide and Technical Info

Order Code: VR105744 Price £

Laser Pointer

This Class IIIa (<5 rnW) laser pointer can be used with the Vernier Photogate to produce a gate that is wider than the normal 7.5 cm spacing, making it possible to measure the speed of an automobile or of a person running. The laser case is made of aircraft aluminum, and it uses two AAA batteries (included). The wavelength of the light is 650 nm.

Order Code: VR106472 Price £

Laser Pointer Stand

This light-weight tripod is a perfect support for the laser described above, which has a 1.1 cm outside diameter. The stand features fold-out legs and a clip attached to the adjustable ball. A socket head assembly securely holds the laser in place. This assembly allows you to accurately point the laser at the photogate. A VELCRO^® strap, integrated into one of the tripod legs, allows you to attach the laser to objects such as ring stands and railings.

Order Code: VR106480 Price £

Ultra Pulley Attachment

Add an Ultra Pulley to your Photogate to monitor motion as a string passes over the pulley or as the pulley rolls along a table.

Order Code: VR106448 Price £

Pulley Bracket

The Pulley Bracket attaches an Ultra Pulley to the end of a Vernier Dynamics Track.

Order Code: VR106488 Price £

Picket Fence

Our Picket Fence has 8 opaque bars silk-screened at intervals of 5 cm directly onto clear plastic. These devices are especially good for dropping through a photogate to study free fall.

Order Code: VR106456 Price £

Cart Picket Fence

The Cart Picket Fence is a small plastic strip for doing photogate motion timing with dynamics carts. When the Cart Picket Fence passes through a photogate, the cart’s velocity and acceleration as a function of time can be accurately measured.

Order Code: VR106496 Price £

Bar Tape Kit

The Photogate Bar Tape Kit contains a flexible plastic tape called "Bar Tape" and a guide that allows the tape to be used with a Vernier Photogate. The tape is 3 m long, and it has alternating opaque and transparent bars that have a spacing of 1.524 cm. The tape can be attached to objects and pulled through the photogate. This allows you to perform experiments much like what you would do with a "ticker tape timer".

Experiments include:

• Studying the motion of a toy car
• Studying the motion of other toys, e.g., air powered rockets
• Studying the motion of a person as they hold the tape and walk away from the photogate

Order Code: VR100440 Price £

Bar Tape

Our timing toys are great to use with photogates or Smart Pulleys. Our Bar Tape is a flexible strip 3 meters long and 1.6 cm wide with opaque bars spaced every 1.525 cm. This strip can be attached to a dynamics cart and pulled through a photogate, taking the place of a "ticker tape" in many mechanics labs.

Order Code: VR106504 Price £

You can connect up to four Photogates in a chain