Inclined to Roll

Procedures:
1. In your notebook, make a data table like the one below. Include space for 5 angles (15
trials).

Average Speed
Angle
Trial Number Time Average Time (m/s,
(degrees)
distance/time)
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
• Notice every three trials the angle will change.

1. Lay the clip board flat on one end of the desk. The car will butt up to the metal clip
on the board. The end of the table is your finish line.
2. Prop up the end of the clipboard that has the clip to a slight incline (use your class
materials and textbooks to create this incline). Use a protractor to measure the angle
that the board makes with the table. Record the angle in your data table.
3. Working in groups of three, have one person hold the car so that its back end is
touching the clipboard. As the holder releases the car, another student needs to start
the stopwatch and stop once it reaches the end of the table. Record the time after each
trial.
4. Repeat step 4 two more times.
5. Repeat steps 3-5 four more times, making the ramp gradually steeper each time.
6. For each angle of the incline, complete the following calculations and record them in
your data table.
a. Find the average time the car takes to get to the finish line.
b. Calculate the average speed for each angle.
 Name:__________________
Inclined to Roll Lab Questions
1. Which is your manipulated variable and which is your responding variable in this
experiment? Explain. (Look at the Skills Handbook in the back of the book if you nee a
refresher course in the variables.)

2. On a graph, plot the average speed of the car (on the y-axis) against the angle of the ramp
(on the x axis).

3. What does your graph show about the relationship between the car’s speed and the angle
of the ramp?

4. If you measurements for distance, time, or angle were inaccurate, how would your results
have been affected?

5. Do you think your method of timing was accurate? Did the timers start and stop their
stopwatches exactly at the appropriate points? How could the accuracy of the timing be
improved?