Motion of a Wheeled Vehicle on an Inclined Plane
Introduction
Background Information
In this investigation, a small-wheeled vehicle will be placed on an inclined plane. The cart will be placed at the top of the plane, and dropped without any applied force. At the top of the inclined plane will be a motion sensor (perpendicular to the surface of the plane) that will measure the change in velocity vs. time of the cart. The angle of the incline will be increased, in order to find the correlation between the angle of incline and the acceleration of the cart.
Webster’s Dictionary describes motion as “the act or process of moving”; when an object is in motion, its location changes as a result of movement. In physics, motion is defined in terms of time, velocity, displacement, and velocity. According to Newton’s first law, “An object moving at a constant velocity will remain at that velocity unless acted upon by a net force”; thus, the velocity of an object will not change unless acted upon by a net force. In this investigation, the main focus is the velocity of an object moving in a straight line, or linear motion.
While work and energy are measured using the same unit (joules), they are actually different things. Work refers to a force and the movement in the direction of the force (i.e. a force of 10 newtons pulling an object 5 meters does 50 joules of work) while energy describes the capacity or ability to achieve work (i.e. in order to do 50 joules of work, one must use 50 joules of energy to do so). Potential energy is the capacity for an object to do work by virtue of position (i.e. elevation, on the end of a stretched bowstring) while kinetic energy is the energy an object possesses because of motion. In this inve...
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...perfectly perpendicular.
Works Cited
"Acceleration." Acceleration. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. .
"Energy." Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
"Inclined Planes." Inclined Planes. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
"Kinetic Energy." Kinetic Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
"Mass on Frictionless Incline." Mass on incline. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. .
"Work." , Energy and Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. .
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In this experiment we positioned a marble ball on a wooden roller coaster positioned on a physics stand in the sixth hole. Throughout the experiment, we used an electronic timer to record the time of the marble where it passed through the light beam of its clamp. We positioned the clamp at a certain point on the roller coaster and measured the distance from the marble to the clamp; the height of the clamp; and finally the time the ball traveled through the clamp. After we recorded these different figures we calculated the speed of the marble from the given distance traveled and the time. We repeated the step 14 times, then proceeded to graph the speed and the height. Next, we took the measurements of position of the clamp, height, and speed and calculated the potential energy, the kinetic energy, and the total energy. Total energy calculated as mentioned before. Potential energy is taking the mass (m) which is 28.1g times gravity (g) which is 9.8 m/s2 times the height. Kinetic energy is one-half times the mass (m) times velocity (v2). Finally we graphed the calculated kinetic, potential, and total energies of this experiment.
The definition of a projectile is an object that the only force acting on it is gravity. Projectile motion is the path the projectile takes. We saw and used this topic a few times in our project. The first time we saw it was when the marble was flew out of the pipe and was in the air. The second time we used the topic to make sure the trains fell on the lever in the correct spot so the golf ball would roll. The third time it was used, was when the board fall on the balloon. It fell as half of a parabola since it started standing up.
the length of the slope can be used to calculate the speed of the car
Rolling a Car down a Ramp Investigation PLANNING When planning my experiment, I will need to take into consideration. the following points: -Fair testing -Equipment -How many results will I get? -What range of variables I will experiment with I will be investigating, by varying the height of the summit of the ramp. is raised off the ground, if the average speed increases or decreases.
friction, affecting the speed and distance the ball rolls. Title: The Effects of Height, Length, Surface, Weight, Size, and Material on the Distance a Ball Rolls Down a Ramp Aim: The aim of this experiment is to investigate the factors that affect the distance a ball rolls when released from the top of a ramp. Variables:
Kinematics unlike Newton’s three laws is the study of the motion of objects. The “Kinematic Equations” all have four variables.These equations can help us understand and predict an object’s motion. The four equations use the following variables; displacement of the object, the time the object was moving, the acceleration of the object, the initial velocity of the object and the final velocity of the object. While Newton’s three laws have co-operated to help create and improve the study of
can move itself. Therefore, if something is in motion, it must have been put in motion by
In other words, in the case of an object in motion, unless it is affected by a “non-zero force) force such as thrust or drag, it would continue in the same direction and at the same speed indefinitely. “Horizontal motion is under Newton’s first law; therefore, it is at constant horizontal velocity.
“How about we use a pulley system with a weight at the end to push the car forward?” my team member suggested. “Or we could use a hammer launcher,” I proposed. We went back and forth, contemplating different methods. We faced trials, tribulations, and troubles in the design process. Building and perfecting our designs took weeks, but our coach guided us throughout the process and encouraged us to “Never give up!” We researched the effects of different factors that could potentially come in the way of our success and analyzed all of the device possibilities. Even when research got arduous and we couldn’t agree on something, we never gave up on our dream of placing in the regional competition. This was one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever faced in my Science Olympiad career, but our unfaltering dedication and our belief in success helped us persist in the face of setbacks. Once we finished our plan, we began to build the device. It was exhilarating to see our plan come to
Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion states that acceleration is directly proportional to net force when mass is constant. This experiment dealing with variable forces has as its objective the verification of this law. In this experiment this law is tested for verification in straight forward way. Through the use of a Force Sensor and an Accelerometer, data collection of observations and measurements that a force exerts on a small cart along with the cart’s accelerations are to be determined. The sensors’ measurements will be employed to give meaningful relationships between the net force on the cart, its mass, and its acceleration under these conditions. The resultant measurements revealed will verify and determine the force and acceleration relationship as stated by Newton.
This experiment could have been more accurate if the angle of the slope could have been lowered to stop the trolley from accelerating. The experiment could have also been improved by taking greater care in making sure that the weights didn’t fall off of the trolley after they collided with the trolley. Better weights should have been found for the 1.5kg as the ones used had to be tied together to reach the sufficient weight, thus making them more likely to fall off the trolley. Conclusion: The hypothesis was proven correct for the 500g weight, however, the hypothesis was not proven correct for the 1kg and 1.5kg weights as the momentum before the collision did not equal to the momentum after the collision.
In our text we began our study of physics with motion because motion is a dominant characteristic of the Universe (Kirkpatrick, 21). In class we learned that speed is the distance traveled divided by the time taken, s=d/t. The definition of velocity is very close to that of speed except that direction of an object is also taken into account.
This would mean that at higher points the trolley would have more gravitational potential energy. This would be a good variable to investigate because we can use various gradients but it might be slightly difficult to measure some angles with the protractor. * Height of start position- this affects the motion of the trolley because as the height gets larger the trolley gains more gravitational energy. This would be a good variable to investigate because there are many heights we can use and it is also easy to
== 1. The flywheel was set as shown with the axle of the flywheel horizontal. A polystyrene tile was placed on the floor to avoid the impact of the mass on the floor. 2. The vernier caliper was used to measure the diameter d of the axle.