The Effect of Potential Energy on Kinetic Energy
Your Name Here
The date goes here
SSC 1-2 Period ?
Ms. Stoldt
Objective
The purpose of this experiment is to find out whether the height of a ramp
(potential energy) will affect the distance traveled by a toy car (kinetic
energy).
Hypothesis (not required if lab was exploratory or if the teacher tells
you it’s not required)
If the height of the ramp is raised, then the toy car will roll farther.
Materials
 1 Hot Wheels® car
 1 Hot Wheels® ramp
 3 textbooks
 metric ruler
 meter stick
Procedure
1.
Put track on the table.
2.
Raise with a book, measure height and enter it.
3.
Let car roll down ramp.
4.
Measure and record the distance traveled by the car.
5.
Repeat 3 – 4.
6.
Average the answers and enter.
7.
Add another textbook.
8.
Measure height and do steps 3 – 6.
9.
Add another textbook, find height and do steps 3 – 6.
10. Draw a line graph.
Data/Results
Distance traveled by the
toy car
10 cm
9.2 cm 10.1
cm
Average distance traveled
by the toy car
9.8 cm
6.0 cm
19.3
cm
20.8
cm
20 cm
20 cm
9.0 cm
27.1
cm
27.3
cm
29.1
cm
27.8 cm
Ramp Height
3.0 cm
A graph would go here. Not all labs require graphs so only include one if it
applies to the lab you did in class.
Discussion
In “The Effect of Potential Energy on Kinetic Energy” Lab a car
traveled down a ramp whose incline was increased with each trial. Each time
the ramp was increased the car traveled farther. As the height of the ramp
increased, the distance traveled by the car also increased. I accept my
hypothesis because I was correct in predicting that the ramp height would
affect the distance traveled by the car. In the third trial, there was one
number that was a lot higher than the other two. That was the only slightly
unusual result.
Conclusion
The objective of this lab was “to find out whether the height of a ramp
(potential energy) will effect the distance traveled by a toy car (kinetic
energy).” The objective was met because we were able to calculate average
distances traveled by the car, which is dependent on ramp height. One error
is that the wheels would sometimes stick on the car, and we would have to
redo the run. In this lab I learned how potential energy could be converted
into kinetic energy. This goes along with what we learned in class. We
talked about how the more you stretch a rubber band (potential energy) the
farther it will fly (kinetic energy). If I were to improve the experiment, I
would not use the track and car. I would get a metal track, so that it can’t
warp or sag and use a ball bearing since it will roll more freely.