IA Report

Research Question:

What is the relationship between the height of the ramp and the velocity of toy car?

Background information:

For the toy car, When it is high up the ramp, the Gravitation Potential Energy(GPE) is contained.
The height of the ramp increases, more energy the toy car has, which equals GPE=mgh. When
the car releases, all the gravitation potential energy would change to kinetic energy, there is a
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physics law stating KE=1/2 mv . Kinetic energy would increase the speed of the toy car, so more
kinetic energy the toy car has and faster it can move.

Therefore, GPE=KE + friction force x distance, we would ignore the friction force and distance,
because it has a constant friction and have the same distance. From this, we would to expect
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GPE=KE, that the theoretical equation will be mgh=1/2 mv . We would cancel the mass of toy car
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from both sides of equation to get gh=1/2 v .

Planning Section:

Independent variable: Length of ramp: symbol = h. Units = m.

Range: from 0.08m to 0.566m,

How to will be measured:

- Ensure the ramp is stationary.
- Hold the meter stick vertically so that wanted height of ramp of meter stick is at the base of the
ramp.

- Without moving ruler, move eyes to measure the location of the toy car, thus the height of the
ramp. We measure the nails’ location on the ramp. Again, take into account parallax error.

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Dependent variable:speed of the toy car: symbol = v. Units = ms

How it will be measured:

- Put the Electronic tachometer at the end of the ramp, ensure the equipment is stationary.

- Hold the toy car at the location of the ramp, and release it. We record the speed three times at
each height of the ramp and get an average speed would decrease the amount of random error
in my reading and provide more accurate data.

- Measure five different heights of ramp.

Controlled variables:

Variable How it will be controlled Effect if not controlled

Location of the toy We marked the different locations on
car the ramp. Keep the end of toy car at
the locations on the ramp, then this
can keep the location of the toy car
constant when repeating measure the
speed of it.
Mass of the toy car Ensure that when measure the speed
of toy car at different heights.
of the toy car.
To do this, we use the same toy car
during the experience.
Number of readings A minimum of 5 heights will be taken
The location of the I would use the same equipment and
electronic tachometer put the tachometer at the same place
when we measure each time.
If not ensure the location of the
toy car constant before release
it to measure the speed, this
would effect the speed of the
toy car because the potential
energy would be different when
its location changes (larger or
smaller).
This would change the speed
This gives us a reliable mount
of data to base our conclusion
on.
Inconsistent value will be
obtained. While measure the
speed, different location of
tachometer may give different
readings, which may have
different systematic error.

Ethical, environmental and issues: none

Safety issues: Because the ramp is on the table, be careful when moving the ramp to the table to
prevent the ramp from falling off the table and hurting others. When sliding the toy car off the ramp,
pay attention to whether there is anyone there to avoid being hit by the falling car.

Equipment list: a ramp, a top car, a 1m ruler and an electronic tachometer.

Method:

1. Set up equipment as shown with the ramp on the ground.

2. Hold the 1 meter ruler vertically to measure the heights of different location on the ramp.
Remember to take into account parallax issues.

3. Put the electronic tachometer at the end of the ramp.

4. Put the toy car on the ramp and make sure that its end at the locations of the nails.

5. Release the toy car and measure the speed .

6. Repeat so that have 3 trials for each length.

7. Change the different locations of nails on the ramp. (for

example: 0.55m, 0.45m, 0.35m…) One meter ruler
8. Analyzed the data.

Ramp

 Toy car
Electronic

Tachometer

Analysis section:

Raw Data

Height of the ramp (m) Velocity of the toy car (s) ± 0.01s
±0.006m
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

0.550 2.61 2.60 2.60

0.450 2.35 2.40 2.38

0.350 2.09 2.09 2.07

0.250 1.72 1.74 1.70

0.150 1.26 1.25 1.27

0.050 0.57 0.62 0.62

Uncertainties in the raw data

- L ±0.006m comes from using a meter stick and estimating the height of the ramp. Smallest unit
on the meter stick is 1mm (0.001m). However, the ramp was about 0.004m above the ground
and the location of the toy car where it releases was uncertain, I think a reasonable uncertainty
would be larger — 0.006m.

- This was the uncertainty of velocity of the toy car suggested by the electronic tachometer, which
was (± 0.01s).
Graph of raw data:

Power-fit selected with A(constant)=0.08128 since that is the expected relationship from this
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equation: gh=1/2 v

Processed data
Sample Calculation and Uncertainties

- At the height is 0.25m, for v the uncertainty= (1.74+1.70)/2-1.72=0.02m/s.

- 0.02/1.72=1.16% 1.16%*2=2.32%

- v2 uncertainty=2.32%*1.72=0.03m2s-2(1 sig fig)

Graph

Line of the best fit error calculations

- Largest difference in gradient

(LOBF-shallow)=0.075-0.074=0.001

(steep- LOBF)=0.081-0.075=0.006 (larger)

- Largest difference in intercept

(LOBF-steep)=0.026-0.010=0.016 (larger)=0.02 (1 sig fig)

(shallow-LOBF)=0.032-0.026=0.006

Equation of line of best fit:

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h= (0.075 ± 0.006) v + (0.00 ± 0.02)

Evaluation section:

Conclusion:

There is a linear relationship between the height of the ramp and the speed fo the toy car squared.
May experimental equation from my line of best fit was:

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My graph of speed and height is a straight line through the origin i.e. the speed at the bottom of
the ramp squared is directly proportional to the height from which it is released. I had one outlier
(for a height 0.550 m which I ignored).

Since gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, in the ideal situation with no
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losses due to friction, gh=1/2 v . From this relationship, I would expect my gradient to be 0.051 .
My gradient is 0.075 ± 0.006, which is significantly higher than the expected value.

The graphs show our data was very consistent with small error bars. The height’s error bars were
so small they were almost impossible to see on the graphs, while the average period and period
squared error bars were very small compared to the value of period or period squared. This
allowed for our 2 error lines to be very close to our line of best fit.

Strengths

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Closeness that our data fit the linear relationship between h and v

Repeating measurement to be three times increased the accuracy and consistency, making for
very small uncertainties on each ave speed and speed squared value.

Weakness Realistic improvements

Estimating the location of the toy car was a Measure the height with a ruler and mark the
weakness. position with a pencil. Use a ruler to be horizontal to
the ground and perpendicular to the meter ruler.
This can reduce the inaccuracy of the position of
the toy car. Put the rear wheel of the toy car on the
mark, so that I can ensure that I get the same result
every time I measure.

Rubber tracks on the ramp will increase the friction Use a ramp with a smooth track for the
of the trolley measurement experiment, which can reduce the
friction on the track and make the experimental
results more accurate.

The location of electronic tachometer was not When testing the speed, we need to fix the
constant. electronic tachometer by hand to ensure that the
instrument is in the same place during each test. In
this way, the accuracy of the data can be
guaranteed.
What could be not next (extension):

In this investigation, The ramp is curved. I assume that the next time I will use a straight track to
compare the different conclusions of the two tracks. After studying the speed, a further extension is
to study the relationship between the height of the ramp and the acceleration of the toy car.