CONSTANT SPEED AND VELOCITY
SCORE____ / _____
Speed is defined as rate of motion. Mathematically this is s=d/t. In this investigation you will determine the
speed of a moving car and graph this motion.
Follow all steps carefully and in order. Check each step off as you complete it.
Procedure:
1. Mount the timer on the floor using two small pieces of tape.
2. Thread a strip of paper tape through the timer and tape it to the back of the car.
3. Turn the timer and the car on and allow the car to roll across the floor until the tape has passed
through the timer.
4. Circle the first clear tick near the starting end of the tape and the last clear tick near the end of the
tape.
5. Measure the distance between the two ticks you marked in step number 4. d=_______________m
6. Calculate the time it took for the tape to move through the timer time= .017s/tick x number of ticks.
t= ___________s
7. Determine the average tape velocity using V=d/t. s=______________m/s
8. Construct a distance time graph of the cars motion. To do this measure the *cumulative distances and
*cumulative times for each tick on the paper tape and record them on the chart below and then graph
your data.
Time ( s)
Distance (m)
Q: 1- Refer to your graph. Describe the relationship between the displacement and time.
Q:2- Determine the slope of your graph for 3 different line segments. How does the slope of the graph
compare for these three segments?
Q:3- Determine the velocity of your cart for 3 different short segments of the ticker tape. How does
this compare to the slope of the graph?