TOY CAR EXPERIMENT (black = time prac, red = distance prac)
Hypothesis A statement of what you think will happen
The greater the angle of a fixed ramp, the faster a toy car travels down it.
The greater the angle of a fixed ramp, the greater the distance the car will travel after leaving the
ramp.
Aim To investigate the effect of A on B
To investigate whether changing the angle of a ramp changes the speed that a toy car travels down
it.
To investigate whether changing the angle of a ramp changes the distance a toy car travels after
leaving the ramp.
Materials A full list of what you used
1 x retort stand
1 x boss head and clamp
1 x toy car
1 x wooden ramp (at least 1m)
1 x stopwatch
1 x protractor
1 x metre ruler
Risk assessment What could harm a person doing this experiment?
Risk
Ramp could fall on person
Metre ruler could harm eye
Likelihood
likely
moderately
Control
Tighten clamp; ensure is stable
Wear safety glasses
Variables Remember “change, measure, same….cows moo softly”
Independent variable: angle of the ramp
Dependent variable: time taken for car to travel down ramp (s)
Controlled variables: same car, same stopwatch, same ramp
Independent variable: angle of ramp
Dependent variable: distance travelled by car along ground after leaving ramp (cm)
Controlled variables: same car, same ramp, same ruler, same surface
Method Third person, past tense
1. The retort stand, clamp and ramp were set up so that the ramp was at an angle of 10°.
2. A toy car was held at the top of the ramp and a stopwatch was started as it was released.
3. When the toy car reached the bottom of the ramp, the stopwatch was stopped and the time
recorded.
4. Steps 2 and 3 were repeated two more times.
5. Steps 1-4 were repeated for four different angles: 20°, 30°, 40° and 50°.
Method
1. The retort stand, clamp and ramp were set up so that the ramp was at an angle of 10°.
2. A toy car was held at the top of the ramp and released.
3. The car was allowed to come to a stop and the distance from the bottom of the ramp to its
resting place was recorded.
4. Steps 2 and 3 were repeated two more times.
5. Steps 1-4 were repeated for four different angles: 20°, 30°, 40° and 50°.
Results Table and graph
Table 1: Results of experiment showing travel time of toy car at different ramp angles
Figure 1: Average time taken for toy car to
travel down ramp at different angles
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
Time (s) 0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Angle (degrees)
Discussion Explain science behind prac, problems, improvements
In this experiment gravity pulls the car down the ramp. The steeper the ramp, the greater the
acceleration and the faster it travels. It was hard to get the ramp at exactly the right angle because
the protractor wasn’t easy to use on the floor. Also, there was human error in measuring the time.
To improve this prac, a digital light gate could be used to measure the time.
Conclusion
The greater the angle of the ramp, the faster the car travelled. The hypothesis was supported.