Investigate the relationship between pulling back an elastic band and how much force it exerts.

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Simon Beard 11Y

Investigating forces

Plan:

        I am going to investigate the relationship between pulling back an elastic band and how much force it exerts.

Equipment:

        I am going to need:

  • An elastic band
  • A margarine tub
  • A 100g weight
  • A stool
  • A table
  • A Newton meter

Diagrams:

        

Fair test:

        The factors that could affect my experiment are the stool, the elastic band, the margarine tub, the weight and the desk.

I will make sure the stool is the same as some stools may have been made a different size or may have been bent out of shape. Both of these factors could add more tension to the elastic band or could make it slacker, these would affect my experiment as the amount of strain potential energy would be different.

I will use the same elastic band as different elastic bands would have different elasticity. This would affect my experiment, as if you pulled an elastic band back 10cm, it would have more strain potential energy then a slacker elastic band pulled back 10cm.

I will use the same margarine tub throughout the experiment as a different tub might be a different weight and a different size. This would affect my experiment because the heavier the tub, the less distance it would travel. Also, if the tub rotates while moving, I will do that test again. This is because the tub would not be moving to its full potential, as some of the energy transferred by the elastic band would be used up in making it rotate.

I will use the same weight as a different weight might be slightly heavier or slightly lighter. This would affect my experiment because the heavier the tub, the less distance it would travel.

In this investigation, friction is crucial, as without friction, the tub would not stop. So I will use the same desk as some desks may be stickier than others, thus causing more friction. This would make the tub travel less. However, it is out of the scope of this report to investigate the exact frictional force applied by the table.

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Method:

        I am going to put a stool on a desk and attach an elastic band to two legs of the stool. This will act as a catapult. I will then push a 100g margarine tub back into the elastic band a certain distance and let it go. I will then measure how far it travels using a ruler (1m) and a set square. I will repeat this, moving the margarine tub back into the elastic band different distances and measure how far it goes each time. I will attach the weights to the back of the tub as ...

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