Christian wonders if a heavier cart will roll faster down-hill than a lighter one. He formulates a hypothesis and then decides to conduct an experiment. First, he finds a smooth ramp and a cart. He makes sure that the wheels of his cart roll freely. He set the ramp against a chair so one side of the ramp was 0.5 meters off the ground. Next, he measures the distance the cart will travel down the ramp. He leaves about 10 cm at the top of the ramp and draws a line to mark the release position of the car. He then measures the distance the cart will travel down the ramp and his stopwatch to time how long it will take to reach the bottom of the ramp. He starts the experiment by measuring the time it takes the cart to roll down the hill without any weight on it. For the next five trials he adds a 1 kg mass to the cart each trial. The times of the trials are as follows:
weight (kg)
time (seconds)
1
27
2
32
3
30
4
29
5
30
When comparing the data points, he decides to allow for a 5 second "fudge factor" since he may not have released the cart at precisely the exact same spot each time. Complete each of the following:
Identify Christian's hypothesis: A cart with more weight goes much faster
Identify the independent variable:the weight
Identify the dependent variable:does the cart increase in speed
Identify the other variables Christian needs to consider/control during this experiment:are the wheels oiled, is the ramp at a constant angle and do the weights weigh exactly 1 KG. are the wheels/tires old and worn, are the axles bending under the weight, are they released at the same time or location, and do the carts follow the same path.
Identify the control group in this experiment:the cart without the weight
Identify the experimental group(s):1-5 Kg. carts
What conclusions might Christian draw from this data? depending on the weight the carts speed can increase and/or decrease
What recommendations might you suggest for further study or for improvement? Release position, to have an accurate time and eliminate the "fudge factor"
Christian wonders if a heavier cart will roll faster down-hill than a lighter one. He formulates a hypothesis and then decides to conduct an experiment. First, he finds a smooth ramp and a cart. He makes sure that the wheels of his cart roll freely. He set the ramp against a chair so one side of the ramp was 0.5 meters off the ground. Next, he measures the distance the cart will travel down the ramp. He leaves about 10 cm at the top of the ramp and draws a line to mark the release position of the car. He then measures the distance the cart will travel down the ramp and his stopwatch to time how long it will take to reach the bottom of the ramp. He starts the experiment by measuring the time it takes the cart to roll down the hill without any weight on it. For the next five trials he adds a 1 kg mass to the cart each trial. The times of the trials are as follows:
When comparing the data points, he decides to allow for a 5 second "fudge factor" since he may not have released the cart at precisely the exact same spot each time.
Complete each of the following: