Yr7 Mod4 Car on a ramp Investigation
Car on a ramp investigation
Brief: Investigate how the distance a model car travels is
affected by the height of the ramp it starts on.
Variables:
The Variables that will affect my investigation are:
Success Criteria:
To be successful I will need to:
So that I can:
My Independent variable will be: _______________________
To be successful I will need to:
My Dependent variable will be:_________________________
The Range of my independent variable will be ______ to _____
The Values of my independent variable will be;
So that I can:
________, ________, ________, ________, ________
Controlled Variable
Set at Value
It will be difficult to control __________________________
Because _________________________________________
_______________________________________________
To be successful I will need to:
So that I can:
Yr7 Mod4 Car on a ramp Investigation
Evidence
When the car is at the top pf the ramp, it has gravitational potential
energy (GPE).
What are the key factors that affect the stopping distance of a toy
car?
The equation to calculate GPE is: Mass x gravity x height.
When the car is released and starts travelling down the ramp, it now
has kinetic energy.
The equation to calculate kinetic energy is:
The surface that the car travels on: If the board that the car travels
on is rough, then more energy will be needed for the toy car to travel
over the surface due to increased amounts of friction, knowing this
means that the toy car will travel best on a smooth surface.
½ mass x velocity2 .
The height of the ramp: The higher the ramp, the more GPE it will have
meaning it will travel faster down the ramp.
The equation to calculate friction is:
The Car’s position on the ramp: Dependent on where the car is placed on
the ramp will alter its speed down the ramp.
When the toy car travels along flat ground, the car eventually stops
due to friction slowing it down.
Work done = Force x distance
Diagram
* E.g. if the car is at the top, it has more GPE meaning it travels
faster
* If the car is placed in the centre of the ramp then it will have less
GPE meaning it will travel slower down the ramp also altering its
stopping distance.
The mass of the toy car: Dependent on the mass of the car depends how
much friction will act on the car. The bigger the mass, the more
friction acting on it.
Aerodynamics of the toy car: The more aerodynamic the car is, the
longer it takes for the car to stop because the car will have less
drag acting on it.
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=149180
Method:
Plan a method for your investigation using the five points of a
perfect plan.
Results:
Create a results table to record the results of your experiment.
Re
Yr7 Mod4 Car on a ramp Investigation
had a mass of 25g so at 5cm (0,05m) height the car started
with:
Graph:
Here is a scatter graph of some sample data collected by a
student in year 7.
Using: GPE =mass x gravity x height
Distance a car travels with the height of a ramp
GPE = 0.025kg x 10 x 0.05m
Mean distance travelled
(cm)
400
= 0.125J
350
y = 16.152x - 11.533
300
250
If I double the height of the ramp to 10cm (0.1m) then the GPE
would be:
200
150
100
50
GPE = 0.025kg x10 x 0.1
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Height of ramp (cm)
Conclusion:
I found out that the higher the ramp the further the car will
travel. I notice that if I double the height of the ramp the
distance travelled will also double. This of course will not go on
for ever as if the ramp is too high the car will hit the desk
converting some of its Kinetic energy into sound and heat
energy so I would predict that the distance will decrease
beyond a certain point. My graph does not intersect the Y axis
at zero because friction in the wheel bearings of the car has to
be overcome before the car will start to move. As the height of
the ramp is increased so is the Gravitational Potential Energy
(GPE). This agrees with the accepted scientific model; My car
= 0.025J
i.e. twice as much gravitational energy would create twice as
much Kinetic Energy therefore the car should go twice as far
provided that the friction is constant.
When the car was released the GPE was transferred into
Kinetic Energy. The car slowed down and came to a stop as the
Kinetic Energy was converted into heat and sound energy by the
friction in the wheel bearings and between the wheels and the
bench top. The car was also slowed down by drag. As the Kinetic
Energy of the car increased so did it’s velocity as
K.E. = 0.5mv2 where m is the mass and v is the velocity. As
velocity increases so does drag caused by friction with the air.
Making the car more aerodynamic will reduce the drag. The
increased drag at higher velocity should have caused a slight
curve in my results which may be evident if we regard the
result at 20cm as anomalous.
Yr7 Mod4 Car on a ramp Investigation
ALN Supplied Method: Max Level 4
1/ Place a wooden ramp on a smooth surface and raise the back
end 2cm high using a book or clamp stand.
2/ Draw a starting line 20cm from the high end of the ramp
using a pencil.
3/ Place the front wheels of a toy car on the starting line and
hold it there with a ruler to act as a barrier.
4/ Release the car by lifting the ruler and measure how far the
car travels using a meter rule. Record your results in a table.
5/ Repeat steps 1 to 4 using ramp heights of
4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18 and 20cm
6/ Repeat each height three times to check the reliability of
your data.
ALN Supplied table: Max Level 4
Height of
Test 1
Test 2
ramp (cm) Distance
Distance
travelled
travelled
(cm)
(cm)
Test 3
Distance
travelled
(cm)
Average
Distance
travelled
(cm)