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In this laboratory investigation, our task was to determine the velocity, acceleration, and position of a moving toy car within a specified time frame. Each group was provided with a toy car, a spark timer, and spark tape. The spark timer produced dots on the spark tape at tenths of a second intervals, which we used to gather data for analyzing acceleration and velocity.
Materials:
Background:
The lab involved applying fundamental physics formulas:
These formulas allow physicists to deduce various aspects about an object's motion, such as constant velocity, acceleration or deceleration, and the influence of weight on acceleration.
Our data collection and graph plotting were guided by these formulas, enabling us to draw conclusions about the toy cars' movements.
Procedure:
We began by attaching spark tape to each group member's toy car and passing it through the spark timer.
Simultaneously, we initiated the car and the timer, collecting data for analysis. Each member repeated this process, creating three sets of distance values. We measured the distance between dots in millimeters and plotted them against elapsed time, representing a tenth of a second per dot. The total distance my toy car covered was 49.2 centimeters over 1.7 seconds, plotted in the position graph. For velocity, we recalculated the distances between individual dots without compounding them, as velocity is the change in distance over the change in time.
The velocity graph showed distances ranging from 20mm to 33mm in a tenth of a second. Lastly, for acceleration, we calculated the change in velocity over the change in time and plotted it. My acceleration graph ranged from zero to five meters per second squared.
This laboratory exercise allowed us to apply these physics concepts practically and gain insights into the motion of the toy cars.
Data Collected
Compounded Distance (cm) | Time elapsed (seconds) |
2 cm | .1 s |
4 cm | .2 s |
6.5 cm | .3 s |
9.4 cm | .4 s |
12.3 cm | .5 s |
15.3 cm | .6 s |
18.3 cm | .7 s |
21.3 cm | .8 s |
24.3 cm | .9 s |
27.3 cm | 1 s |
30.3 cm | 1.1 s |
33.3 cm | 1.2 s |
36.3 cm | 1.3 s |
37.5 cm | 1.4 s |
42.7 cm | 1.5 s |
45.9 cm | 1.6 s |
49.2 cm | 1.7 s |
Velocity
Distance (mm) | Time Elapsed (seconds) |
20 mm | .1 s |
20 mm | .2 s |
25 mm | .3 s |
29 mm | .4 s |
29 mm | .5 s |
30 mm | .6 s |
30 mm | .7 s |
30 mm | .8 s |
30 mm | .9 s |
30 mm | 1 s |
30 mm | 1.1 s |
30 mm | 1.2 s |
30 mm | 1.3 s |
32 mm | 1.4 s |
32 mm | 1.5 s |
32 mm | 1.6 s |
33 mm | 1.7 s |
Acceleration
Change in Velocity (m/s) | Time Elapsed (seconds) |
0 m/s | .1 s |
0 m/s | .2 s |
5 m/s | .3 s |
4 m/s | .4 s |
0 m/s | .5 s |
1 m/s | .6 s |
0 m/s | .7 s |
0 m/s | .8 s |
0 m/s | .9 s |
0 m/s | 1 s |
0 m/s | 1.1 s |
0 m/s | 1.2 s |
0 m/s | 1.3 s |
2 m/s | 1.4 s |
0 m/s | 1.5 s |
0 m/s | 1.6 s |
1 m/s | 1.7 s |
Data Analysis/Conclusion:
a. Position: 3.36×10−2 cm/s3.36×10−2cm/s b. Velocity: 1.087×10−1 mm/s1.087×10−1mm/s c. Acceleration: −9.44×10−2 m/s2−9.44×10−2m/s2
The consistent linearity in the data indicates that the toy car maintains a constant rate of motion. If the data exhibited significant variation, it would suggest fluctuations in the car's velocity, resulting in scattered rather than linear data.
a. Position:
b. Velocity:
c. Acceleration:
Analysis of Toy Car Motion: Velocity, Acceleration, and Position Over Time. (2024, Feb 29). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/document/analysis-of-toy-car-motion-velocity-acceleration-and-position-over-time
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