Acceleration of Toy Cars Name:Jeremy Clawson

In this activity, you will use your knowledge of both position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs to determine the velocity and
acceleration of a toy car. You will also obtain motion graphs for the car moving towards and away from the detectors.

Equipment: Chromebook, Motion Sensor and cable, pull-back car.

Set up:
● Connect the Motion sensor to the chromebook with a usb cable.
● Turn on your Chromebook and start the Vernier Graphical Analysis app.
● Place the sensor on the floor or a flat table so that you have a clear section of level space for the car to travel.

SOME HINTS FOR WORKING WITH GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS:

➔ If you click on the title of the Y-Axis, you can change the type of graph which is displayed or even display more than one
graph at a time.
➔ Double-click on a graph to zoom into the data.

Each time you are ready to record the motion, you will need to have the car pulled back and ready to go BEFORE you hit
collect.

Position the pull-back car to travel towards the detector. Click COLLECT and let the car go, and then hit STOP on Graphical
Analysis JUST BEFORE it hits the detector. Be sure you aim the car directly at the sensor to get the best graphs! You may even
need to angle the car if it pulls to one side as it travels.

1. Paste a screenshot of the portion of BOTH the position and velocity graphs which show the car’s movement during the
acceleration period:
Pull-back Car - Position Graph towards detector: Pull-back Car - Velocity Graph towards the detector:

2. Determine when the graph shows the car’s accelerated movement and highlight this section (click and drag on the graph).
Then click on the graph at the start and end of this area and record the values in the data table below from your
position-time and velocity-time graphs. (You may want to display BOTH graphs at the same time to do this.)

What to record: At start of acceleration At end of acceleration

Time on position graph ti=0 tf=0.8

Value of Velocity graph at same times vi=0 vf=0.6

 3. Use the equation for acceleration to determine the average acceleration of your toy car. Show your calculation below:

Average Acceleration (calculation) = = 1.3m/s

4. On the velocity-time graph, be sure the area of acceleration is highlighted and click on the tool. Select Apply
Curve fit and select LINEAR. Record the value of the slope in the table below:

Average Acceleration Value from curve fit slope 0.9m/s

5. How does the curve fit value in #4 compare to the calculated value you found in #3?
the value is less

Now position the pull-back car to travel away from the detector. Click COLLECT and let the car go, and then hit STOP once it
travels just a few feet from the detector.

6. Paste a screenshot of the portion of BOTH the position and Velocity graphs which show the car’s movement during the
acceleration period:
Pull-back Car - Position Graph away from detector: Pull-back Car - Velocity Graph away from the detector:

7. Determine the section of acceleration, and as before, click on the graph at the start and end of this area and record the
values in the data table below from your position-time and velocity-time graphs.

What to record: At start of acceleration At end of acceleration

Time on position graph ti=0 tf=1.2

Value of Velocity graph at same times vi=0 vf=1.2

8. Use the equation for acceleration to determine the average acceleration of your toy car. Show your calculation below:

Average Acceleration (calculation) = =1 m/s

 9. On the velocity-time graph, apply the Curve fit as before and record your value in the table below:

Average Acceleration Value (curve fit slope) 1.1m/s

QUESTIONS:

1. The position graphs from the pull-back car have what type of shape to them? (straight diagonal lines, curved
diagonal lines, etc…)
straight diagonal lines

2. How did the velocity graph of the pull-back car moving towards the detector differ from the velocity graph when
it was moving away from the detector?
it increased slightly

3. How did the acceleration of the car going towards the detector compare/contrast to the acceleration when it
was going away from the detector?
on one it increases and the other decreases

4. What are the metric units for acceleration?

meters per second