Force and Fan Carts
Purpose: Explore the effect of force and mass on the acceleration of an object.
Question: How do force and mass affect the acceleration of an object?
Hypothesis #1: If the force applied to a cart increases, then the acceleration of the cart
increases when the mass of the cart is held constant, because force and acceleration
are directly proportional to each other according to Newton’s second law.
Hypothesis #2: If the mass of a cart increases, then the acceleration of the cart
decreases when the force applied to the cart is held constant, because mass and
acceleration are inversely proportional to each other according to Newton’s second
law.
Variables for H1:
Independent Variable: force applied to the cart
Dependent Variable: acceleration of the cart
Constant: mass of the cart
Variables for H2:
Independent Variable: mass of the cart
Dependent Variable: acceleration of the cart
Constant: force applied to the cart
Materials
H1:
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●
●
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Fan Cart
Centimeter ruler (cm)
Speedometer (cm/s)
Measure of Time (s)
H2:
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●
●
●
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Fan Cart
Centimeter ruler (cm)
Speedometer (cm/s)
Measure of Time (s)
Weights (kg)
Steps:
1. Open the simulation.
2. Run the simulation on Low fan speed to determine the acceleration of the cart.
3. Run the simulation on Medium fan speed to determine the acceleration of the
cart.
4. Run the simulation on High fan speed to determine the acceleration of the cart.
5. Calculate the change in velocity of the cart for each run.
6. Calculate the acceleration of the cart for each run.
7. Run the simulation with a mass of 2 kg to determine the acceleration of the cart.
8. Run the simulation with a mass of 4 kg to determine the acceleration of the cart.
9. Run the simulation with a mass of 6 kg to determine the acceleration of the cart.
10. Calculate the change in velocity of the cart for each run.
11. Calculate the acceleration of the cart for each run.
Data:
Steps 2-4
Elapsed Time
(s)
Cart Speed
(Low Fan Speed)
(cm/s)
Cart Speed
(Medium Fan Speed)
(cm/s)
Cart Speed
(High Fan Speed)
(cm/s)
0
0.0 cm/s
0.0 cm/s
0.0 cm/s
1
9.0 cm/s
12.0 cm/s
16.0 cm/s
2
18.0 cm/s
24.0 cm/s
32.0 cm/s
3
27.0 cm/s
36.0 cm/s
48.0 cm/s
4
36.0 cm/s
48.0 cm/s
64.0 cm/s
5
45.0 cm/s
60.0 cm/s
80.0 cm/s
6
54.0 cm/s
72.0 cm/s
96.0 cm/s
7
63.0 cm/s
84.0 cm/s
112.0 cm/s
8
72.0 cm/s
96.0 cm/s
9
81.0 cm/s
108.0 cm/s
10
90.0 cm/s
Steps 5 and 6
Elapsed time to
Low Fan Speed
Medium Fan Speed
High Fan Speed
10.5 s
9.1 s
7.9 s
finish line
Δt (s)
Total distance
Δx (cm)
500 cm
500 cm
500 cm
Change in velocity
Δv (cm/s)
95.0 cm/s
109.6 cm/s
126.6 cm/s
Acceleration
a (cm/s2)
9.0 cm/s2
12.0 cm/s2
16.0 cm/s2
Elapsed Time
(s)
Cart Speed
(2 kg mass)
(cm/s)
Cart Speed
(4 kg mass)
(cm/s)
Cart Speed
(6 kg mass)
(cm/s)
0
0.0 cm/s
0.0 cm/s
0.0 cm/s
1
16.0 cm/s
8.0 cm/s
5.3 cm/s
2
32.0 cm/s
16.0 cm/s
10.7 cm/s
3
48.0 cm/s
24.0 cm/s
16.0 cm/s
4
60.0 cm/s
32.0 cm/s
21.3 cm/s
5
72.0 cm/s
40.0 cm/s
26.7 cm/s
6
81.0 cm/s
48.0 cm/s
32.0 cm/s
7
90.0 cm/s
56.0 cm/s
37.3 cm/s
8
64.0 cm/s
42.7 cm/s
9
72.0 cm/s
48.0 cm/s
10
80.0 cm/s
53.3 cm/s
11
88.0 cm/s
58.7 cm/s
Steps 7-9
12
64.0 cm/s
Steps 10 and 11
Elapsed time to
finish line
2 kg Mass
4 kg Mass
6 kg Mass
7.9 s
11.1 s
13.7 s
Δt (s)
Total distance
Δx (cm)
500 cm
500 cm
500 cm
Change in velocity
Δv (cm/s)
126.6 cm/s
89.5 cm/s
73.1 cm/s
Acceleration
a (cm/s2)
16.0 cm/s2
8.1 cm/s2
5.3 cm/s2
Conclusion:
The data for the first part of the experiment support the first hypothesis. As the force applied to
the cart increased, the acceleration of the cart increased. Since the increase in the applied force
caused the increase in the cart's acceleration, force and acceleration are directly proportional to
each other, which is in accordance with Newton's second law.The data for the second part of the
experiment support the second hypothesis. As the mass of the cart increased, the acceleration
of the cart decreased. Since the increase in the cart's mass caused the decrease in the cart's
acceleration, mass and acceleration are inversely proportional to each other, which is in
accordance with Newton's second law.