ACTIVITY GUIDE

Activity 2: Kinematics- Describing Motion

(adapted and modified from “Describing Motion” of the IOPSpark- Institue of Physics, England)

I. Introduction

Kinematics is the Science of describing the motion of an object. It is a branch

of mechanics with the goal of presenting mental models that serve to describe
and cosequently explain the motion of real- world objects. In this field, the
concern lies on “how” the object moves, rather than “why” it moves. In the
language of kinematics (and mechanics in general), one must be familiar with
the concepts of scalars and vectors, distance, displacement, speed and
velocity, including acceleration. According to courses.lumenlearning.com, the
study of kinematics is often referred to as “the geometry of motion”.

To describe motion, one could start by looking at an object’s displacement. In

its simpliest sense, it is a vector quantity that refers to how far an object is
with respect to a reference frame (initial point). Not withstanding the actual
distance travelled (curved or straight path), displacement is a vector whose
length is the shortest distance from the initial to ther final point.
Consequently, velocity is the measurement of the rate and direction of motion
of an object,also a vector quantity. Simply put, it specifies an object’s speed
and direction of motion and is thereby a function of time. When an object is in
motion with changing velocity, the object is said to be accelerating. This puts
acceleration as a vector quantity that defines the rate at which an object’s
velocity changes.

In his quest for knowledge, Galileo Galilei experimented on and explained his
findings about the motion of objects. In fact, his book on “Two New Sciences”
featured his ideas about objects motion which laid the foundation for the
science of materials and constructions. His ideas on motion and acceleration
had been used and modified in context up until today. This activity is a DIY
version of the experiment that Galileo performed in the 16th century.

It will allow you to explore kinematical concepts and perform graphing

activities to visualize and describe the motion of the object of interest. It is
best and highly recommended that knowledge on motion graphs be
reviewed.
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 II. Materials & Equipment

• 0.5 meter Wooden runway (straight-sturdy cardboard is an

alternative)
• Stop watch (digital stopwatch on mobile phone will do)
• Tape measure/meter stick or ruler (measuring tool)
• Stopper (could be a small wooden block)
• marble
• Stack of books
• Protractor
• Marker

III. Procedure
1. Mark the ramp with 5cm distance interval.
2. Prepare and set the ramp as shown in the figure below. Position the ramp
such that the zero mark is on top. In place of the iron stand and clamp, use a
stack of books, such that the runway is inclined in about 20 degrees slope.

3. Measure the time taken for the marble to run from the top of the slope to
10cm along the slope. This is the first “stop”.(Hint: Place the stopper in the 10-
cm mark before rolling the marble)
4. Repeat the measurement atleast three times to establish a mean value.
5. Move the stop point to 15cm from the zero mark and repeat the process
done in step 2.
6. Continue the process, at 5cm interval, until the marble runs the whole
length of the ramp.
7. Repeat the experiment using two different angles (one angle less than 20
deg, one angle more than 20 deg)
8. Record data in the Data Sheet.

IV. Analysis & Discussion

1. Draw graphs of the following relationships:
a) final velocity vs. distance
b) final velocity vs. mean time
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 Note: Use Microsoft Excel in graphing. Observe proper labels and
attach your screenshots in the lab report.

2. From the velocity vs time graph, deduce the marbles acceleration.

3. Based on the results, what can you conclude about the relationship of time,
velocity and distance?
4. Based on the results, what can you conclude about the effect of changing
slope angle to:
a) marble’s velocity
b) marble’s acceleration
5. What can you conclude about the relationship of velocity and acceleration?
Use your experimental results as basis.

Synopsis of Formulae

The Four Fundamental Kinematic Equations

𝒙 = 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
𝒗 = 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚
𝒕 = 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆
𝒂 = 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

Note: These equations are only accurate if the acceleration of an object is constant

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