Your 'ball down ramp' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
** Your general comment **
** Will a steeper ramp give greater or lesser time? **
I am pretty sure the interval on the steepest ramp will be neither the greatest nor the least because with the exception of the steepness of the ramp the same forces are acting on the ball each time. For example the same potential energy, the same distance of the ramp, the same gravity, etc.
** As slopes increases will time intervals increase, decrease or show no pattern? **
I don't think there would be a clear pattern for the same reason stated in the previous question.
** Your report of 5 trials each way for 1 domino **
I first measured the ramp; it was 12in. long. I positioned the dominoes so that the last .5 cm of the ramp extended beyond the point there the ramp comes into contact with the domino. While following the instructions listed above I was able to determine that the ball rolled 10 inches before striking the bracket.
Trials Time Difference
1 2.046997
2 1.875
3 2.015015
4 1.906982
5 1.828003
Reversed system trials:
Trials Time Difference
1 5.514893
2 6.047119
3 7.640869
4 4.906006
5 6
This data basically shows that under the previously mentioned specific conditions, the ball will roll at a fairly consistent time interval down the ramp with very little variation.
&#If the ramp is reversed according to the instructions, then unless the surface is pretty off-level (which is possible) the time required for the ball to go down the ramp shouldn't differ by much from the times previously observed. &#
** Your report of 5 trials each way for 2 dominoes **
I created a setup much like the first one except this time I used two dominos.
Trial Time Difference
1 1.171875
2 1.265625
3 1.203125
4 1.40625
5 1.32825
Reverse process trials:
Trail Time Difference (in sec.)
1 1.59375
2 1.75
3 1.625
4 1.765625
5 1.71875
This data shows that it actually does take less time for the ball to roll down the ramp with a steeper slope as compared to the first trial. Concerning this particular trial with two dominos, when I did the reversal those numbers were higher than the original two domino setup.
** Your report of 5 trials each way for 3 dominoes **
Trial Time Difference (in sec.)
1 1
2 1.140625
3 1.140625
4 1.0625
5 1.15625
Reversal setup trials:
Trial Time difference (in sec.)
1 1.328125
2 1.171875
3 1.5625
4 1.515625
5 1.5625
There isn't a huge difference in numbers here, but the reveral trial number were (as in the 2 domino part of the experiment) higher.
** Do your results support or fail to support your hypothesis about increasing or decreasing times? **
My results did not support my hypothesis regarding the relationsihp between time intervals and slopes. I had originally thought because the same forces would be acting on the ball the rate would be the same regardless of the steepness of the slope. However there is one very important variable that I forgot to take into consideration, and that is the mass of the ball and what material the ball consists of.
** How do you think ave velocity is related to slope? **
I do think the average velocity of the ball is related to the slope of the ramp, because in conducting the actual experiment as the slope increased the time it took the ball to hit the bracket decreased. Also if you graph and compare the original setups of the experimental situation before the reversal, you can see a linear graphical relationship that shows as slope increases velocity increases.
** Speculate on why ave velocity changes with slope. **
I think it has to do with the mass of the ball on how forces such as gravity and air resistance act upon it in relationship to the steepness of the slope. For example I have shown that increasing the steepness increases the velocity, therefore (even though in some cases air resistance is considered as a negligable factor) air resistance should play more of a factor as the velocity of the ball increases.
** How could you test your speculations? **
I would repeat the experiment using balls with different masses in the different steepness setups that we used before. I would also make a list of each force that is acting on the ball and try to find a way to test each of those factors seperately using the domino/ramp setup.
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It took approxmately two and a half hours to complete this experiment.
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Good work. I'm not sure why there is such a significant difference with the reversed ramps, but you appear to have good insight on this experiment.