Hot Wheels Lab
Author: Shannon K. Smith
Team Members: D. Block ASPC Class
Date of Experiment: November 12, 2010
Date Report Submitted: December 13, 2010
Class: Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry, D Block
Mr. Mays, Instructor
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this experiment was to predict the velocity of the car between the gates. A Hot Wheels car was used.
Background
The theory that was used for this experiment was the Law of Conservation of Energy. The Law of Conservation of Energy states that “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed in form.” The theory, the Law of Conservation of Energy, was Ekf = Egi - Egf, where Egi is the initial gravitational potential energy, Eki is the initial kinetic energy but is not shown because there was no initial kinetic energy, Egf is the final gravitational potential energy, and Ekf is the final kinetic energy. The gravitational potential energy equation is mgh, with m as the mass, g as the gravity on Earth, 9.80 m/s, and h as the height. The kinetic energy equation used was 1/2 mv², with m as the mass, and v as the velocity. To discover the predicted values the equation v = the square root of 2Ek/m was used with v being the velocity, Ek being the kinetic energy and m being the mass. To find the experimental values the equation v = d/t was used with v being the velocity, d being the distance between the gates and t being the time.
The instructor had set up the Hot Wheels track and the gates beforehand. The team members leveled the track and measured the height of the track at the top and the bottom. The team measured the length of the track, the distance between the gates and weighed the Hot Wheels car. The car was rolled down the track and the times were recorded.
The hypothesis of this experiment was that the Law of Conservation of Energy would be confirmed.
Experimental Procedure
The following equipment was used in this experiment:
carpenters level (1)
Hot Wheels car (1)
electronic stop clock, Daedalon (1)
meter stick (1)
laser photo gates, Daedalon(2)
support stand (1)
Hot Wheels track (1)
data collector, Xplorer GLX (1)
force sensor, Pasco PS2104 (1)
Flinn digital balance (1)
The instructor had previously set up the Hot Wheels track. The team checked to make sure the track was level with a carpenters level. The team members measured the height of the top of the track and the bottom of the track with the meter stick. The length of the track was measured with a tape measure and the car was weighed on the Flinn digital balance. While measuring, all team members were careful to avoid parallax error. The Hot Wheels car we used was an Aston Martin. The car was placed at the top of the track and was carefully aligned so that it would not bump into the sides of the track. The car was released and the time it took to go from one gate to another was measured. This was repeated until the team had four runs where it did not bump into the track sides. In this experiment, friction was not taken into account.
Results
The measurements and the run times are shown in the tables below.
Table 1. Measurements.
initial height final height car mass distance between gates track length
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. 35.33 g. 10.1 cm. 30 in.
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. NA 10.15 cm. NA
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. NA 10.25 cm. NA
Since the scale used to weigh the car was so accurate, it was not necessary to weigh it three times. For the purpose of this experiment, for the distance between the gates, 10.15 cm. was used.
The four car runs are presented in the table below.
Table 2. Car runs.
Times
Run 1 .0487 s.
Run 2 .0491 s.
Run 3 .053 s.
Run 4 .0486 s.
Discussion
For the predicted value the team got 2.10 m/s and for the experimental value the average of all four was taken and the team got 2.04 m/s. The team hypothesis was that the Law of Conservation of Energy would be confirmed. The hypothesis was confirmed because at the beginning at the top of the track the car had gravitational potential energy and at the end at the bottom of the track all of the gravitational potential energy had been transferred into kinetic energy. The car was not moving at the top but had gravitational potential energy because it was up in the air. It rolled down the track losing the gravitational potential energy but gaining kinetic energy because it was moving.
The equation to calculate the experimental error was |predicted value - experimental value| / predicted value × 100% The experimental error in this experiment was 2.86%. The possible sources of error were few. The team was careful to avoid parallax error. The team measured everything three times or the instrument used to measure was accurate enough to not need to measure multiple times. Human error was avoided by measuring everything three times. The main possible source of error was an equipment malfunction. The scale used to weigh the car could have been wrong or have had a broken part that caused it to read the weigh wrong. The timer could have not stopped at the right time or started at the right time.
Conclusion
The conclusion of this experiment is that the hypothesis of the Law of Conservation of Energy being confirmed, was confirmed. The Law of Conservation of Energy was confirmed in this experiment. There was very little room for error so the conclusion is definitive.
References
The Student Lab Report Handbook, 2nd ed. (Novare Science and Math: 2010)
Author: Shannon K. Smith
Team Members: D. Block ASPC Class
Date of Experiment: November 12, 2010
Date Report Submitted: December 13, 2010
Class: Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry, D Block
Mr. Mays, Instructor
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this experiment was to predict the velocity of the car between the gates. A Hot Wheels car was used.
Background
The theory that was used for this experiment was the Law of Conservation of Energy. The Law of Conservation of Energy states that “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed in form.” The theory, the Law of Conservation of Energy, was Ekf = Egi - Egf, where Egi is the initial gravitational potential energy, Eki is the initial kinetic energy but is not shown because there was no initial kinetic energy, Egf is the final gravitational potential energy, and Ekf is the final kinetic energy. The gravitational potential energy equation is mgh, with m as the mass, g as the gravity on Earth, 9.80 m/s, and h as the height. The kinetic energy equation used was 1/2 mv², with m as the mass, and v as the velocity. To discover the predicted values the equation v = the square root of 2Ek/m was used with v being the velocity, Ek being the kinetic energy and m being the mass. To find the experimental values the equation v = d/t was used with v being the velocity, d being the distance between the gates and t being the time.
The instructor had set up the Hot Wheels track and the gates beforehand. The team members leveled the track and measured the height of the track at the top and the bottom. The team measured the length of the track, the distance between the gates and weighed the Hot Wheels car. The car was rolled down the track and the times were recorded.
The hypothesis of this experiment was that the Law of Conservation of Energy would be confirmed.
Experimental Procedure
The following equipment was used in this experiment:
carpenters level (1)
Hot Wheels car (1)
electronic stop clock, Daedalon (1)
meter stick (1)
laser photo gates, Daedalon(2)
support stand (1)
Hot Wheels track (1)
data collector, Xplorer GLX (1)
force sensor, Pasco PS2104 (1)
Flinn digital balance (1)
The instructor had previously set up the Hot Wheels track. The team checked to make sure the track was level with a carpenters level. The team members measured the height of the top of the track and the bottom of the track with the meter stick. The length of the track was measured with a tape measure and the car was weighed on the Flinn digital balance. While measuring, all team members were careful to avoid parallax error. The Hot Wheels car we used was an Aston Martin. The car was placed at the top of the track and was carefully aligned so that it would not bump into the sides of the track. The car was released and the time it took to go from one gate to another was measured. This was repeated until the team had four runs where it did not bump into the track sides. In this experiment, friction was not taken into account.
Results
The measurements and the run times are shown in the tables below.
Table 1. Measurements.
initial height final height car mass distance between gates track length
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. 35.33 g. 10.1 cm. 30 in.
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. NA 10.15 cm. NA
24.4 cm. 1.6 cm. NA 10.25 cm. NA
Since the scale used to weigh the car was so accurate, it was not necessary to weigh it three times. For the purpose of this experiment, for the distance between the gates, 10.15 cm. was used.
The four car runs are presented in the table below.
Table 2. Car runs.
Times
Run 1 .0487 s.
Run 2 .0491 s.
Run 3 .053 s.
Run 4 .0486 s.
Discussion
For the predicted value the team got 2.10 m/s and for the experimental value the average of all four was taken and the team got 2.04 m/s. The team hypothesis was that the Law of Conservation of Energy would be confirmed. The hypothesis was confirmed because at the beginning at the top of the track the car had gravitational potential energy and at the end at the bottom of the track all of the gravitational potential energy had been transferred into kinetic energy. The car was not moving at the top but had gravitational potential energy because it was up in the air. It rolled down the track losing the gravitational potential energy but gaining kinetic energy because it was moving.
The equation to calculate the experimental error was |predicted value - experimental value| / predicted value × 100% The experimental error in this experiment was 2.86%. The possible sources of error were few. The team was careful to avoid parallax error. The team measured everything three times or the instrument used to measure was accurate enough to not need to measure multiple times. Human error was avoided by measuring everything three times. The main possible source of error was an equipment malfunction. The scale used to weigh the car could have been wrong or have had a broken part that caused it to read the weigh wrong. The timer could have not stopped at the right time or started at the right time.
Conclusion
The conclusion of this experiment is that the hypothesis of the Law of Conservation of Energy being confirmed, was confirmed. The Law of Conservation of Energy was confirmed in this experiment. There was very little room for error so the conclusion is definitive.
References
The Student Lab Report Handbook, 2nd ed. (Novare Science and Math: 2010)
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