Reaction Time Activity

Question: What can change reaction time?

Materials: Metric ruler, paper, Calculator
Procedure:
Reaction time is how long it takes for a
message to travel along your nerve pathways.
1) Copy the data table below onto a separate sheet of paper.
2) Have a partner hold a metric ruler at the end with the highest number.
3) Place the thumb and first finger of your left hand close to, but not
touching, the end with the lowest number. Your thumb and finger have to be
spread far apart so they will not touch the ruler as it falls.
4) When your partner drops the ruler at a random time without warning you,
try to catch it between your thumb and finger.
5) Record where the top of your thumb is when you catch the ruler. Make
your measurements to the nearest 0.5cm. Put this number in your data table
as trial 1. At any time if you do not catch the ruler in time, record this
as 35 cm.
6) Repeat steps 2 to 5 three more times.
7) State if you think the ruler will fall farther if you catch it with your
right hand.
8) Repeat steps 2 to 5 four times using your right hand to catch the ruler.
9) Switch roles and drop the ruler for your partner. Each group member
should have their own data.
10) Analysis: To complete your data table, calculate the time in seconds
needed for the ruler to fall. Do the following for each trial:
1) Multiply the distance in cm by 2. 2) Divide the result in step 1
by 1000. 3) Calculate the square root of the result in step 2.
Round all answers to 2 decimal places. This will be the time in
seconds.
11) Find the average for each column.

Trial Left Hand Right Hand

Distance Ruler Time in Distance Ruler Time in
Falls (cm) Seconds Falls (cm) Seconds
1 14 0.17 14 0.17
2 23 0.21 15 0.17
3 13 0.16 5 0.10
4 15 0.17 9 0.13
Total 65 0.36 43 0.29
Average 16.25 0.18 10.75 0.14
Improving our times—Lab continuation
1. Make another data table like the first one, repeat the previous
procedure except for one difference: Have your partner count
down from three before dropping it… “3, 2, 1, (drop)”
Trial Left Hand Right Hand
Distance Ruler Time in Distance Ruler Time in
Falls (cm) Seconds Falls (cm) Seconds
1 14.5 0.17 13 0.16
2 11 0.15 9.5 0.13
3 7 0.12 12 0.15
4 8.5 0.12 10.5 0.14
Total 41 0.29 45 0.3
Average 10.25 0.14 11.25 0.15

2. How much of a difference in “reaction time” did this have?

There is a slight decrease in time it takes to catch the ruler,
but at this small of a time frame, this is quite a decrease.
3. What if you tried dropping the ruler into your other hand and
catching it? How much of a difference in “reaction time” does
that make?
It would decrease the time a significant amount, as your brain
already knows when the ruler will drop and when to catch.
4. Which method resulted in the shortest reaction time for you?
Why?
When talking about all of them, dropping the ruler into my own
hand. But out of the two tables the counted one is faster, as
you know when to catch the ruler from the countdown.
5. What can we learn from this activity and apply to other labs we
do when we are trying to time an event or measure an event?
This activity shows that humans recording things will never be
perfect, so we have to take these measurements with a grain of
salt, as they will be close, but not exact.

Conclusion
What was your reaction time? What was the class average reaction
time? Were you faster or slower?
My left hand reaction time average was 0.18 seconds, and my right
hand was 0.14 seconds. The class average was 0.166 seconds, so my
left hand was slightly slower, while my right hand was slightly
faster.