GRAVITY CAR

Introduction
When the car started, the car's center of gravity stays in place because of its
inertia, so this means that the car's center of gravity relative to the car itself is in
the backward. This phenomenon can be clearly observed through the body
movement: people in the car suddenly started, will be backward, also means that
the focus of people in the back. This proves that the car is moving forward
suddenly, the center of gravity is to move backward this view.

FIGURE 1: Image taken from online sources

So, I had this idea, when the car is moving forward, the center of mass is moving
backward, can the car move forward when the center of mass is moving
backward? If the theory is true, it could provide an environmentally friendly way
to drive cars. On this basis, further study on the relationship between the change of
center of gravity and the acceleration of a car can apply this principle to drive a car
more effectively.

Research question
I am interested in the relationship between the change of the center of gravity and
the acceleration of the car, and I want to carry out the experiment in the laboratory
of the school, so I found a simplified model -- the gravity car. It adds a pole with a
fixed pulley on the basis of the trolley, and a rope passes through the tire and the
fixed pulley on the pole and hangs a weight at the bottom of the rope. This model
makes it easier to control the change of the center of gravity and to study the
relationship between the change of the center of gravity and the acceleration of the
car, and on this model, different the change of the center of gravity will be
represented by change of mass hanging at the bottom of the rope. Therefore, my
research question is: How does the falling mass on the ‘gravity car’ affect the
acceleration of the car?
Theory and Hypothesis
A gravity car in regular motion moving in a straight line with constant acceleration
since According to the result of force analysis, the force exerted by Falling Mass
on the car is perpendicular to the bottom of the tire to the left and remains
constant. In this experiment, the rolling friction is so small that it can be ignored
so the resultant force acting on the car stays constant. Thus, it follows the
Newton’s 2nd Law.

The equation for force provided by falling masses is:

F = m1 g
Equation 1
Where:
F: force provided by falling weights (N)
m1: mass of falling masses(kg)
g: gravitational acceleration (m s-2)

The equation for the Newton’s 2nd Law is:

F = m2 a
Equation 2
Where:
F: resultant force acting on the car
m2: total mass of car and falling masses
a: the acceleration of the car
In this experiment, the total mass driving by the resultant force is:
m2 = m1 + M
Equation 3
Where:
M: mass of the car without falling masses

Put Equation3 into Equation2:

F = (m1+M) a
Equation 4
In this experiment, the force acting on the car is provided by the falling masses,
and the rolling friction is ignored. Thus, the force provided by falling masses
equals to the resultant force:
F = (m1+M) a = m1g
So,
m1 g
𝑎 =
(𝑚1 + M)
Equation 5

To linearize the Equation 5:

" $! %& & " "
= = +
# $! ( ( $! (
Equation 6

" "
This follows that a graph of on the y-axis and on the x-axis will produce
# $!
!
a straight line through point of (0, "). It should look like this:

1/a
M/g

!
(0, ")
1/m1

Therefore, it is expected that one over acceleration is proportional to one of the

falling mass. The constant of proportionality (or the gradient of the graph) will be
M/g.
Variables

Independent Variable: the mass of falling weights

Ø The mass of the weight is obtained from the mass marked on the weight(g)
Ø The range of mass of falling weights is between 40g and 90g
Pre-test shows that when mass of falling weights is less than 40g, the gravity
car cannot be driven to move. Also, as the mass of falling weights is bigger
than 90g, the car cannot balance itself. Thus, the only range of weights the
experiments can research is between 40g and 90g.

Dependent Variable: the distance traveled by a car in certain period

Ø It is measured by ticker-tape timer that measures both the distance and time by
making a dot every 0.02 seconds on the tape.
Ø Calculate the acceleration by using dots on the paper tape. By mathematical
induction, acceleration of car = ∆S/T2. When three points are selected, the
time interval between each two points is the same. T represents the time
interval between the first two points. ∆S represents the difference between the
distance from the first point to the middle point and the distance between the
middle point and the last point.
Ø If the distance between two points on the paper tape is measured in a time
period of 0.02s, its value will be really small. This causes measurements of
distance inaccurate.
Ø The time interval between the two points measured in the experiment was 0.3
seconds, which reduces the error of measurements on distance.
Ø Use a meter ruler to measure the distance between two points on the paper.

Control Variables:
1) Mass of gravity car itself.
Ø Use the same gravity car throughout
2) Gravitational field strength
Ø The experiment will be conducted within the school lab, which is relatively
close to the sea level.
Ø The value for g throughout this experiment will be 9.81m s-2
3) Time measuring accuracy
Ø Use the same ticker-tape timer
4) The mass of rope used to suspend heavy objects
Ø Use the same rope throughout the experiment.
Diagram

Apparatus
Ø Gravity car
Ø Paper tape
Ø Ticker-tape timer
Ø Weights: two of 10g, two of 20g and one of 50g
Ø Double-sided adhesive
Ø Light rope
Ø Meter ruler

Method
1) Measure the mass of the gravity car without hanging weights(M) by using the
electronic balance.
2) Wrap the rope around the spool between the two wheels of the car to make
sure that the car can move after hanging the weights on the rope. And test the
ink disc of the ticker-tape timer ahead of time to see if it hits clearly.
3) Cut the appropriate length from a roll of paper tape, stick double-sided tape on
one end, and stick it on the back of the car. Then hook two 20g weights
 together and hang them on the ring at the end of the rope without moving away
the hands.
4) Insert the tape into the slot of the ticker-tape timer and turn it on. Then release
hands to let the car move forward.
5) However, during the movement of the car, it should be noted that when the
falling weights fall to the car rather than hanging by the rope, the car may
continue to move forward, but it is no longer accelerating. Therefore, when
measuring the distance difference, the distance at the last section whose
acceleration is 0 cannot be selected.
6) Measure the distance separately by selecting three points on the paper tape and
making sure that time interval is 0.3s between each of two points (by counting
14 dots between the two points).
7) Record the time interval between two points (0.3s) and the distance(S1)
between the first point and the second point, and the distance(S2) between the
second point and the third point.
8) Repeat a further two times of experiments for the same falling masses of 40g.
9) Change the falling masses to 50g, 60g, 70g, 80g, 90g and repeat steps 2-8

Safety issues:
Ø Make sure that fingers should be contact with the disc of the ticker-tape timer.

Raw Data
Mass of the gravity car/g ±0.1𝑔 Mass of falling weights/g
187.2 40
187.2 50
187.2 60
187.2 70
187.2 80
187.2 90

No.1 No.2 No.3 Time interval/s

S1/cm S2/cm S1/cm S2/cm S1/cm S2/cm
±0.05𝑐𝑚 ±0.05𝑐𝑚 ±0.05𝑐𝑚 ±0.05𝑐𝑚 ±0.05𝑐𝑚 ±0.05𝑐𝑚
3.5 5.5 3.6 5.1 3.7 5.2 0.3
4.3 6.4 5.2 7.2 4.2 6.1 0.3
4.6 7 4.4 6.6 3.8 6.2 0.3
5 7.5 4.2 6.8 4.5 7.3 0.3
5.4 8.3 4.6 7.6 5.6 8.5 0.3
5.2 8.5 4.8 8.4 6 9.5 0.3
Reading error for distance: ±0.05𝑐𝑚
No reading error for falling weights

Mass of the gravity car: 187.2±0.1𝑔

Time interval: 0.3s (No reading error)

Processed Data
Mass of ∆S1(distance ∆S2(distance ∆S3(distance ∆S Time
weights/g difference) difference) difference) (distance interval
difference) square/s2
40 2 1.5 1.5 1.7 0.09
50 2.1 2 1.9 2.0 0.09
60 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.3 0.09
70 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.6 0.09
80 2.9 3 2.9 2.9 0.09
90 3.3 3.6 3.5 3.5 0.09

Mass of 1/a1 1/a2 1/a3 Average 1/a

weights/g
40 0.045 0.060 0.060 0.055
50 0.043 0.045 0.047 0.045
60 0.038 0.041 0.038 0.039
70 0.036 0.035 0.032 0.034
80 0.031 0.030 0.031 0.031
90 0.027 0.025 0.026 0.026

1/Mass of weights ∆1/a

0.025 0.008
0.020 0.002
0.017 0.002
0.014 0.002
0.013 0.001
0.011 0.001
Example Calculations
To calculate time interval square:

T2 = 0.3 * 0.3 = 0.09s2

To calculate the 1/acceleration:

! !! $.$&
= = = 0.045 s2/cm
#! ∆# '

! !! $.$&
= = = 0.060 s2/cm
#" ∆# (.)

! !! $.$&
= = = 0.060 s2/cm
## ∆# (.)

To calculate the average acceleration:

! (/+"# (/+! ,(/+$

= = 0.055 s2/cm
# -

To calculate ∆1/a:

.+/01 34 5+6718 $.$9$:$.$;)

∆1/a= = = 0.008 s2/cm
' '
Graph
Graph for the 1/mass and 1/acceleration of a gravity car
0.070

Best fit line: y = 2.0194x + 0.0048

0.060
Maximum fit line: y = 2.7101x - 0.0053
1/acceleration (s^2/m)

0.050 Minimum fit line: y = 1.4665x + 0.0108

0.040

0.030

0.020

0.010

0.000
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
1/mass (1/g)

Analysis and Conclusion

In the hypothesis, it was expected that one over acceleration is proportional to one
of the falling mass. The constant of proportionality (or the gradient of the graph)
will be M/g. It was expected that the graph would look like this:

The pattern shown on the graph is a positive, linear trend. The best fit line,
maximum fit line and minimum fit line are positive linear trend, it is therefore
reasonable to conclude that the one over acceleration is proportional to one of the
falling mass.

Best fit gradient: 2.02 g s2/m

Min fit gradient: 1.47 g s2/m
Max fit gradient: 2.71 g s2/m
Gradient: 2.02±0.62 g s2/m

Percentage uncertainty: (0.62/2.02) *100%=31%

The percentage uncertainty is 31%, which suggests that the precision of results
could be improved.

The results can be considered to be fairly reliable, given that the points all lie
closely to the line of best fit. There is a slight anomaly for the data point
1/m1=0.11 g-1, where it is just above the trend shown by the other points.
However, when the error bars are taken into account, the best fit line and the
minimum fit line pass through this data point.
$
According to the hypothesis, the gradient of function should be =19.1 g s2/m,
"
but the gradient of the experimental data is 2.02 g s2/m, which is much smaller.
The reason behind this phenomenon is that there is friction between the rope and
the rotating shaft between the two wheels, which results in that the force exerted
by the rope on the rotating shaft is greater than the force exerted by the actual
bottom of the wheel, and there is friction force between the rotating shaft and the
body. Therefore, the resultant force imposed on the car by these frictions will be
much smaller than that under the ideal state.

In conclusion, though the experimental data is 10 times smaller than ideal data,
one over acceleration is still proportional to one of the falling mass.

Evaluation
The design and method of investigation was suitable for obtaining a range of
results to come to viable conclusion. The quality of was relative good for the range
of data taken.

Weakness
The goal of the research on gravity car
is to apply this environmentally
friendly way of driving cars to real
cars. It is important to research the if
the relationship between acceleration
and mass of falling weights is still
existed at a higher range. Thus, the
range of mass of falling in this
Improvements
Because as the mass of falling weights
is above 90g, the center of gravity of
the car tilts back so much during
movement that the car can hardly
move.
The solution to this problem is to
transform the gravity trolley. Because
the gravity car used in the experiment
experiment is limited, it is better that
weights could be extended to ensure
that the relationship carries through at
greater mass of falling weights.
The instrument for measuring
acceleration, the timer, has a large
margin of error. Because the
percentage uncertainty of gradient
reaches 30%, it indicates that there is a
large difference between the data of
each group of repeated experiments.
There is a deviation between the final
gradient value and the ideal value, and
the multiple of the deviation is about
ten times that of the stable value.
Therefore, the friction force between
the rope and the rotating shaft, as well
as the friction force between the
rotating shaft and the car body, has a
huge influence on a 187.2g car.
Although in the process of the
experiment, the operator intentionally
paid attention to the moment when the
falling weights touched the body and
tried to avoid calculating the ∆S, the
distance measurement of acceleration
was no longer provided after the
falling weights fell to the body of the
car. But it is sometimes wrong to use
only the eye to measure the distance of
constant motion.
is only 187.2g, the position of the iron
rod on the car largely determines that
the center of gravity of the car is
seriously back. If there is an
appropriate amount of weight attached
to the front end of the car, such as 30g
weight, so that the center of gravity of
the car can be near the center of
position, range of weights hanging on
the car will be extended.
It can be replaced with a rangefinder,
which can also measure time and
distance at the same time and can give
data more accurately.
In order to reduce the huge error
caused by this friction force, a car with
a larger mass can be selected for the
next experiment, and the mass of the
weight hanging at the end of the rope
should also be increased
correspondingly. In this case, the
friction between the light rope and the
axle is negligible, and the data
obtained will be closer to the
theoretical value.
If there is a similar experiment in the
future and a timer is still used for
ranging, the operator can hold a
stopwatch again and start timing at the
moment when the car starts moving.
When the falling weights touch the car
body, the stopwatch will be stopped.
By recording the time on the
stopwatch, operator can see that the car
is accelerating uniformly during this
time period. This can frame a
measurement range of ∆S, making the
data more accurate.
Reference