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STEEL BALL RACE

Procedure
1. Read the procedure and the safety information, and complete the lab form.
2. Assemble an inclined ramp from a piece of U-channel or two metersticks taped together.
3. Measure 40 cm from the top of the ramp and place a mark there. Place another mark
80 cm from the top.
4. Predict whether the steel balls will get closer or farther apart as they roll down the ramp.
5. At the same time, release one steel ball from the top of the ramp and the other steel
ball from the 40-cm mark. Record your observations.
6. Next, release one steel ball from the top of the ramp. As soon as it reaches the 40-cm
mark, release the other steel ball from the top of the ramp.
Analysis
7. Explain your observations in terms of velocities.
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8. Do the steel balls have the same velocity as they roll down the ramp? Explain.
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9. Do they have the same acceleration? Explain.
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10. Explain how the situation in step 6 is different from the situation in step 5.
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Chapter 3 Ÿ Accelerated Motion

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Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
MiniLAB Teacher Support
STEEL BALL RACE
All numerical answers have been rounded to the correct number of significant figures.
Purpose to investigate the acceleration of steel balls rolling on an inclined ramp
Materials U-channel, book, meterstick, two steel balls
Expected Results
Students who confuse velocity and acceleration will predict that the second steel ball will gain
on the first. However, the distance between the steel balls remains the same in step 5 and
increases in step 6.
Analysis
7. In step 5, the instantaneous velocities of the balls are equal. At each moment in step 6,
the velocity of the ball initially released is greater than that of the second ball released.
8. The distance between the balls remains the same in step 5 because at each moment the
velocities of both balls are equal and are apparently increasing at the same rate. In step 6,
the distance between the two balls increases because at each moment the velocity of
the first ball is greater than that of the second, and both velocities are apparently
increasing at the same rate.
9. One can infer from the observations of step 5 that the balls have the same acceleration.
10. In step 6 the ball at the 40-cm mark has a nonzero initial velocity. In step 5 both balls’
initial velocity is zero.

Chapter 3 Ÿ Accelerated Motion

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Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.