IV.

AnalyzetheDatafromStretchingSlinkies

Copyorcreateagoogledoc,saveitinyourmatharchive,nameit3BSlinkiesWrapUp.
Alternatively,youmaycreateawrapupdocumentandincludethisatthetopofyourdocument.
1. Writeanequationtodescribeeachsetofdata(Coin1andCoin2).Explainhoweachvaluein
theequationrelatestotheexperimentyoucompleted.

Coin1:y=7.8x+48.2
Coin2:y=3.7x+48.2
ForbothCoin1andCoin2yistheamountofcentimetersfromthetopoftheslinky
tothebottomofthecupandxisthenumberofcoinsinthecup.Forcoin17.8and
forcoin23.7arethenumbersofcmtheslinkylengthenspercoin,whichisthe
slope.Bothofthecoinsstartatthesamey-intercept,48.2sobisreplacedwith
48.2.

2. PredictthedistancefromthetopoftheSlinkytothebottomofthecupfortwentycoinsofeach
type.Explainyourthinking.

Coin1:y=7.8x+48.2
y=7.8*20+48.2
y=156+48.2
y=204.2

Coin2:y=3.7x+48.2
y=3.7*20+48.2
y=74+48.2
y=122.2

SincexisalwaysthenumberofcoinsIreplacedthexvariablewith20coins.ThenI
solvedtheequation.

3. Predictthenumberofcoinsneededtomakethisstatementtrue(respondtothequestionthat
relatestoyourexperiment):
Version1:ThedistancefromthetopoftheSlinkytothebottomofthecupisexactly75cm.
Explainyourthinking.

Coin1:y=7.8x+48.2
75=7.8x+48.2
75-48.2=7.8x+48.2-48.2
26.8/7.8=7.8x/7.8
about3coins=x

Coin2:y=3.7x+48.2
75=3.7x+48.2
75-48.2=3.7x+48.2-48.2
26.8/3.7=3.7x/3.7

about7coins=x

SinceyisalwaysthedistancefromthetopoftheslinkytothebottomofthecupI
pluggedin75cminplaceoftheyvariable.ThenIsolvedtheequation.

Version 2: The distance from the bottom of your cup to the floor is exactly 2 cm.
Explain your thinking.

4. Isthepoint(0,0)onyourgraph?Explainwhyorwhynot.

Itisnotnecessarytohavetheoriginonthisgraphbecausewhenyoudangletheslinky
withoutanycoinsthecupitis48.2cmlong,so(0,0)isntneeded.

5. Comparetherulesyoufoundforthetwokindsofcoins.Howaretherulessimilar?Howare
therulesdifferent?

Withbothrulesb=48.2whichmeanstheybothhavethesamestartingpoint.Butfor
mthetwoequationshavedifferentnumbers.

6. Comparethegraphsforthetwokindsofcoins.Howarethegraphssimilaranddifferent?

Bothgraphsslopeupwards,butcoin1sgraphismuchsteeperthancoin2s.Theyalso
bothhavethesamey-intercept

7. Version1:Howareyourgraphsdifferentfromthegraphsofpeoplewhomeasuredthedistance
fromtothebottomofthecuptothefloor?Why?

Mygraphhasadifferentdirectionthanthegraphthatportraythedistancefromto
thebottomofthecuptothefloor.Minegoesupandtheirsgoesdown.Thisis
becauseastheyputmorecoinsintheirdistancegetsshorterbutminegetslonger.
Alsoifyouaddupthedistancesthatwebothgotforthesameamountofcoinsyou
wouldgetthedistancefromthetopoftheslinkytothefloor
Version 2: How are your graphs different from the graphs of people who
measured the distance from the top of the Slinky to the bottom of the cup?
Why?