Friday, March 13, 2015

Ticker Tapes

NG1: Key Question - what is the relationship between position/time on ramp  and...?

The relationship between the position and time on the ramp is that as time increased, cart's position grew further and further. Thus the movement of the cart can best be described as speeding up as it went traveled down the ramp in every 0.1 second interval. The relationship between velocity and time for the cart rolling down the ramp is that the slope of the velocity increased proportionally over the same time interval.

NG2: Investigate - photo, summary of what you did to get data

                         


The ticker timer was used to gather data for position and time by counting every 4th dot on the tape used. We counted every 4th dot because the timer that we used recorded 40 hertz which means 40 dots per 1 second; which was then 4 hertz  dots per 0.1 second. I used the ticker timer tape to create my velocity vs time graph by cutting them up for every 0.1 seconds that passed and then aligned them together in order to create a linear graph. This linear graph represents the rate of change of the object on every interval of 0.1 seconds, or the velocity of the object in other words.


NG3: Analysis - graph, verbal model, math model (units), describe motion of cart






VM: As the time increases, the position increases (not proportionally)
MM: Position = (33 cm/sec²)x time²
Y-int: 0 sec, it represents initial position



VM: As the time increases, the position  velocity increases proportionally
MM: Vfinal = (66 cm/sec²)x time + 0 cm/sec
Slope: When time increases by 1 second, then the velocity increases by 66 cm/sec called the....?
Y-int: At 0 seconds, it represents initial position

Average velocity: V = ∆x / t
V = 91.2 cm / 1.6 sec = 57 cm/sec


NG4: Models

The two new equations that were developed in this lab are a parabola and a linear line respectively.  those are shapes, not equations.  WHat are the equations that we will now take and use in other situations?>   The position vs. time graph was discovered by rolling the cart down an incline with ticker tape; the velocity vs. time graph was discovered by taking the tape pieces, flipping them on its side to represent cm/sec, and creating a new graph. The area under the velocity graph thus represents the total distance traveled over the time interval

NG5: Explaining

The position vs time graph and the velocity vs time graph did not have the same numbers for the slope, but did for the constants. The constants were both zero to represent that the initial position,  ??however the slopes were different because they represented different things. The slope of the 2nd graph represents the rate of change of what?  But how did we compare across groups??. An error that I experienced in my experiment was that I did not use a more accurate ticker tape timer. Instead of using a 60 hertz timer, I used a 40 hertz one, thus my data was not as accurate as it could have been. Another source of error was deciding where my starting point would be on the tape since the cart did not go smoothly around the first few seconds. Something that I would like to test in regards to acceleration would be to test the cart going uphill instead of downhill. It would be interesting to see what the position vs time graph and velocity graph would look like when the acceleration vectors of the motion map are in the other direction. good idea



Sunday, March 1, 2015

Car Plan and Justification

Material List

  • CDs (x4) - Staples/at home
  • Wooden block (x1) - Home Depot
  • Wooden sticks (x2) - Home Depot
  • Mouse/Rat traps (x2) - Home Depot
  • Super and/or Hot glue
  • String
  • Rubber bands
Drawings



Justification Statement

The car that we designed will be propelled using two rat traps and have CDs as wheels. We decided to use rat traps because of the design of the rat traps themselves. The force from the snapping of the traps, we will, shall be enough to get the car over the hill and onto the other side. The CDs will be used as wheels because of their thinness, which will slide with little air resistance, its little inertia rotation. 

Forces: The forces that will act upon our car include the force of gravity, the normal force at an angle (since the initial position is on an angled wooden platform), the force of friction, and the applied force from the rat traps. The force of gravity and the normal force will be the same, but the friction force will be larger than the applied force since the car will not be moving at a constant speed.

Motion: The change in the velocity of the car will occur at the initial starting point. It will begin with a velocity of zero, and then will start to speed up due to the force of the rat traps. Thus, the velocity of the car will be speeding up in a positive direction until it is no longer in motion after going up the platform

Mass/Weight: Mass and weight affects the performance of the car due to impulse and change in momentum. If the car is really heavy, then the change in velocity will decrease. Likewise, if our car is very light, then the change in velocity will increase. We need to be careful when planning how much our car will weigh.

Newton's Laws: During this competition, Newton's 1st Law applies since the car will always remain at rest until it is provoked by the force of the rat traps. And on the other spectrum, it will always remain in motion until another force stops it. Newton's 3rd Law also applies if the two cars collide, for example. The forces exerted by the two will be the same no matter the mass or weight or change in velocity, which is the 3rd Law.

Momentum/Impulses: At the top of the hill, the two cars will most likely hit each other. But more specifically, the forces exerted by the two objects will be the same according to Newton's Third Law. Their impulse will also be the same since the time and the force shall be identical. However, the change in velocity will vary according to the mass of both cars. Whichever car is heavier will sustain more damage to the opposing car.

Energy: From what I've researched, I know that kinetic energy is the energy of motion. For the sake of this competition, I believe that kinetic energy (and velocity) will affect the distance required for the car to stop. 

Friday, January 23, 2015

Marshmallow Lab

NG1 Key

Q1: How does the height of the shooter affect the distance traveled by the marshmallow?
IV: Height of the shooter
DV: Distance the marshmallow travels (inches)
CV: the marshmallow and the shooting device and the force of the blow

Q2: How does the shooting device's texture affect the distance traveled by the marshmallow?
IV: Different paper used to shoot the marshmallow
DV: Distance the marshmallow travels (inches)
CV: Marshmallow,  force of the blow, and height

Q3: How does the strength of the blow affect the distance traveled by the marshmallow?
IV: How hard the marshmallow is blown into by the shooter
DV: Distance the marshmallow travels (inches)
CV: The shooting device, the marshmallow, the height
all good


NG2 Investigate




Procedure:
  1. First we decided to conduct three different tests for the variable of height. We achieved this by shooting the marshmallow in a straight direction from standing on the ground, then standing on a chair, and finally on an elevated table. We also kept the marshmallow, the tube, and the force of blow constant. We then recorded the data what data?  what exactly did you measure? with various meter sticks
         The data we recorded was how far the marshmallow traveled in inches with different independent variables affecting it.
  1. We then repeated a similar experiment but instead of height, we tested how far the marshmallow went when shot from a tube made from different material. We used three different tubes made from a folder binder, binder paper, and wax paper while also keeping constant the marshmallow, the height, and the force of blow. We then recorded the data with meter sticks again.
  2. Lastly, we shot the marshmallow by blowing with different forces from the tube. The tube, the height, and the marshmallow were kept constant this time. Using meter sticks once more, we measured how far the marshmallow went when the tube was blown softly, medium, and hard.

NG3 Data

Experiment 1

Independent Variable (Height)Dependent Variable Result (Inches)
Ground191 In
Chair206 In
Table242 In

VM: As the height from which the marshmallow was shot increases, the distance it travels also increases

Experiment 2
Independent Variable (Paper Material)Dependent Variable Result (Inches)
Folder Paper195 In
Binder Paper142 In
Wax paper104 In

VM: When the material of the paper of each tube is thicker, the marshmallow travels further.

Experiment 3
Independent Variable (Force of Blow)Dependent Variable Result (Inches)
Soft96 In
Medium168 In
Hard314 In

VM: As the force of the blow increases, the distance traveled by the marshmallow also increase


NG4 Model

The equation p = mv is the equation from momentum. This means that Momentum = Mass x Velocity. We learned that momentum can be defined as a "mass in motion". The velocity of that mass affects the quality of its motion. The equation FT = mΔV is the equation for impulse. This means that Force x Time = Mass x Change in Velocity. We learned that impulse in physics is the change in momentum. We observed the relationship between momentum and impulse in our lab experiment. For example, other experiments conducted by our peers chose to make the length of the tube the independent variable. This affected the time it took for that the force of air to reach  acted on the marshmallow, thus changing the momentum of the marshmallow, or its impulse. Our group only conducted one experiment that tested impulse, which was experiment 3. Overall, when time and mass were held constant in our experiments, then force and velocity thus increased proportionally.

We observed similar data from other groups' experiments. The data in almost all of our experiments showed that the momentum affected the time it took for the marshmallow to reach the ground. no it doesn't  - only the height affects the time to hit the ground.  Whether the independent variable was height or force of blow, it was not surprising to observe that further the marshmallow was from the ground, the more longer it stayed in the air because more time was needed for gravity to pull it back down.
 hmmm..  I am not convinced you know well how this equation works... some stuff is there but I would like to see a clearer explanation of how the force affects velocity (thus affecting distance), same for time in the tube (although that explanation wasn't so bad).  And how does the equation tell you the velocity the mallow leaves the tube with, and then how does the height allow it to go further....
I now have better understanding of the equation for impulse FT = mΔV. In one of our experiments, we held the force and the mass of the marshmallow constant. We then made the time our independent variable by increasing the height from which the shooter blown. The higher the platform, the more time the marshmallow stayed in the air. As the time increased for the marshmallow to stay in the air, the velocity also increased in turn. Another example that we did not do in our experiment was to keep force and time constant. Therefore if we increased the mass of the marshmallow, its velocity would then increase as well.

NG5 Evidence

During our experiment, we committed some small errors. First, we had three shooting tubes but with different measurements for their radius. This affected how much air escaped from the tube when blowing the marshmallow, which thus affected how large or small the velocity truly was. yep  Another error that we had in our experiment was that we didn't really know how to keep the force of the blow constant. There was no way to accurately measure how hard to blow, so we tried our best to estimate how hard or soft to blow in experiments 1 and 2. Lastly, we made a mistake by forgetting to roll the marshmallow in flour before shooting it. Over time, the marshmallow became sticker since we kept picking it up and shooting it. The stickier it became, the harder it took to smoothly get the marshmallow out. The flour could have prevented this stickiness, which presented some additional difficulty when shooting the marshmallow out of the tube. We could have improved this experiment by a performing different tests with different independent variables. A good experiment that my peers tested was how the length of the tube affected the distance traveled by the marshmallow. This would have been better to perform that our experiment 2 because this one affected the impulse. We also could have improved this test by repeating each experiment to confirm our results. yes.  good work!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Friction Lab

Partners: Christina and Gavriella
Group 3

Objective Statement:
Our objective was to figure out the which factors affect the force of friction on a two sided block. One side of the block had felt on it while the other side had vinyl on it.

Our Plan:
Our plan was to record the force of friction of the block by adding five different weights to the block in order to control the force of gravity. yes but we were really testing how hard the surfaces press together 

Prediction:
The side of the block with vinyl on it would experience a higher force of friction. what about the Fn?

Apparatus:
  • Logger pro
  • Weights
  • Two-sided block with felt and vinyl
Photo Nov 11, 8 34 40 AM.jpg

Procedure:


1. First we will set the Force Sensor on Logger Pro to be 10 N
2. We will lay the Force Sensor horizontally on the table and “zero” Logger Pro
3. Then we will connect the block to the Force Sensor and begin collecting data
4. As we collect data, we will hit collect on Logger Pro and drag our object at a constant velocity. why was constant velocity important?
5. We will add to the weight of the object each time to collect 5 data points.
6. We will change the Normal Force by changing the mass of the object we are using each time.

Data Collection:units!
Photo Nov 12, 2 12 33 PM.jpg

Data Analysis:



VM: As the FN increased in Newtons, the force of friction also increased proportionally.
MM: FF = (0.229 N/N) FN - 0.1907 N
Slope: For every 1 N added, the Force of Friction increased by 0.299 N
Y-int: When the FN is 0 N, the Force of Friction is -0.1907 N


Vinyl Side.png




VM: As the FN increased in Newtons, the force of friction also increased proportionally.
MM: F= (1.0591 N/N) F- 0.3152 N
Slope: For every 1 N added, the Force of Friction increased by 1.0591 N
Y-int: When the Fis 0 N, the Force of Friction is -0.3152 N





Conclusion: 

In this lab, we were trying to find out the difference between the force of friction between the vinyl side and the felt side of a block in order to show their contrasting forces. To find this out, we tested both sides using a force sensor and adding different amounts of weight each time. Then we would pull the block by the force sensor so that we could measure and record the force of friction each time we tested it. The independent variable in this lab was the normal force (in Newtons). The dependent variable was the force of friction also measured in Newtons.

After doing this lab, we discovered that the slopes from our equations are the coefficients of friction. These tell you about the type of surface the object is on. We also found out from this lab that velocity and surface area do not affect the force of friction. Everyone's graph looked identical to ours: the slope of the felt side was significantly smaller than the slops of the vinyl side. The only differences were the y-intercepts and the number of the slope. Other graphs had different slopes because those other groups might have committed data error such as moving too fast or too slow. The equation for the calculation of the force of friction was Ff μ Fn(N/N). This lab turned out exactly as we predicted: the vinyl side exhibited a larger force of friction.  I feel like you didn;t talk about how the surfaces pressing harder together affects the Ff.....  

Two people wearing identical shoes can have different forces of friction depending on the surface they are on. For example, a person with the same pair of shoes standing on ice will have a less force of friction, whereas the shoes of a person standing on a mountain side will exhibit a greater force of friction. Likewise, two people wearing different types of shoes will have have the same force of friction if they are on a frictionless surfaces. The coefficients of friction determine how much force of friction an object will feel. The force of gravity and the normal force does not affect this on the other hand. Yes, the normal force DOES affect the Ff,...  when the surfaces press together harder, there is more force of friction.  

One source of error that we had was when we measured the force of friction of the vinyl side of the block. When we were calculating our data, the block was kept riling up. This drastically affected how the block was pulled along. Another error we had was when we pulled the block. Sometimes we pulled it too fast or too slow, which messed up how we calculated the mean of the data. In the future, I am interested in finding out how tension affects the force of friction.

I feel like I am getting better at writing lab reports because they are a lot more thorough and informative. I think I can improve my writing of these reports by being more accurate.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Gravity Lab

Partners: Gavrielle and Christina
Group 3 

Objective Statement:
Our objective was to figure out the force of gravity measured in newtons when different masses measured in kilograms are added to a force sensor.

Our plan:
Our plan was to measure the force of gravity by adding five different weights to a mass hanger in order to calculate the forces in newtons.

Data Analysis:
1. In order to measure the force of gravity, we used the Dual Range Force Censor program via Logger Pro
2. We then added a metal mass hanger to the force sensor, which weighted 50 grams and used the "zero" option to reccaliberate the scale of the sensor.
3. Next we added different weights to the mass hanger and collected the data of the newtons produced. We repeated this step the following masses: 10 g, 20 g, 30 g, 40 g, and 50 g
4. We then converted each weight from grams to kilograms
5. The equation of the data points was Force = (9.1 N/kg)mass + 0.017 N, where 9.1 N/Kg = the gravitational field strength of the Earth and 0.017 N = when the mass is 0 kg
very nice
Data Table:




VM: As the mass increased in kg, the force of gravity in Newtons also increased proportionally
MM: Force = (9.1 N/Kg)Mass + 0.017 N
Slope: For every 1 Kg added, the force of gravity increased by 9.1 N
Y-intercept: When the mass is 0 kg, the force of gravity is 0.017 N. However, the force of gravity should by 0 N but the scale of our data points is close enough already.good

Conclusion/Claims and Evidence:
Weight, or the force of gravity, can be determined by multiplying the given mass of an object by 9.8 N/kg. The difference between mass and weight is that mass is defined as how much stuff is in something, whereas weight is defined as the force of gravity.excellent In this lab, we observed that the almost every other group had similar slopes to ours, which was 9.1 N/Kg. After finding out the average of each slope, we discovered that the earth's gravitational field strength is 9.8 N per every 1 Kg. So no matter where on the earth's surface, the gravitational strength always yields 9.8 N/Kg. So the new equation is Force = (9.8 N/Kg)Mass + 0 N. The y-intercept can be anything close to zero newtons. Light and heavy objects hit the ground at the same time because objects with different masses fall at the same acceleration rate of 9.8 m/s/s. Under the rule of free fall motion, all objects will fall at the same rate of acceleration regardless of their mass. This is because since all objects are within the Earth's gravitational field, they all experience the same amount of force. no not same force that would mean everything weighs the same...  the reason they all fall at same rate, a more massive object has more force on it, which is the same as a less massive object with less force on it...  the more massive object is harder move so it requires more force to move it. 

otherwise, great job!  neat and thorough!  :)