Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this lab was to measure the relationship between distance and time of a rolling ball over an incline. The variables that were worked with were the degree of the incline of the track, the time that the ball took to go over a certain distance, and the certain set distance the ball traveled. d
Procedure: The procedure was to mark out set distances along the track. We recorded these distances in order to compare them to the time. Someone set the ball rolling without giving it any momentum down the incline so all the momentum the ball had was its own. Simultaneously as the ball is set in motion a timer is started to achieve the time reading for the experiment. All data is written and 3 trials are done. After the first three trials the degree of the incline was changed from 10 degrees to 15 degrees. The same procedure was carried out on the new incline. Next a 10 degree incline was used. Then the ball was started from 4 different positions and the times were recorded.
Error Analysis: Error occurred in this specific lab was quite difficult to factor out. One of the biggest problems were having the two ramps on the longer ramp experiment fit and stay together, without having a gap that would alter and/or slow down the ball’s overall velocity. Another large error finding, was the timing factor. Timing was done by hand and either a timer, or phone. Since humans were conducting the timing for each distance for the ramp and ball, it quickly became difficult to precisely time the exact time it took for the ball to roll down a certain distance.
Conclusion: To conclude, the group and I found out that the steeper the angle of the ramp, the faster the ball will accelerate while rolling down the ramp. The longer the ramp, the more time the ball has to accelerate, therefore, increasing the overall speed of the ball. As the ball rolled down the ramp (which had a constant negative slope so the ball could roll down in a forward motion), the group and I came to a realization that as long as the ramp had a uniform slope, the acceleration would also be uniform.
Procedure: The procedure was to mark out set distances along the track. We recorded these distances in order to compare them to the time. Someone set the ball rolling without giving it any momentum down the incline so all the momentum the ball had was its own. Simultaneously as the ball is set in motion a timer is started to achieve the time reading for the experiment. All data is written and 3 trials are done. After the first three trials the degree of the incline was changed from 10 degrees to 15 degrees. The same procedure was carried out on the new incline. Next a 10 degree incline was used. Then the ball was started from 4 different positions and the times were recorded.
Error Analysis: Error occurred in this specific lab was quite difficult to factor out. One of the biggest problems were having the two ramps on the longer ramp experiment fit and stay together, without having a gap that would alter and/or slow down the ball’s overall velocity. Another large error finding, was the timing factor. Timing was done by hand and either a timer, or phone. Since humans were conducting the timing for each distance for the ramp and ball, it quickly became difficult to precisely time the exact time it took for the ball to roll down a certain distance.
Conclusion: To conclude, the group and I found out that the steeper the angle of the ramp, the faster the ball will accelerate while rolling down the ramp. The longer the ramp, the more time the ball has to accelerate, therefore, increasing the overall speed of the ball. As the ball rolled down the ramp (which had a constant negative slope so the ball could roll down in a forward motion), the group and I came to a realization that as long as the ramp had a uniform slope, the acceleration would also be uniform.