- Next measure the distance that the wooden travelled due to the trolley hitting against it and record the results.
- Now continue following the same process for the slope of 4cm to 12cm.
Data:
Attempt 1:
Attempt 2:
After then completing two attempts of the experiment, we decided to take the average of the results in order to make it a fair test because some of the results for the first attempt were slightly different in the second attempt.
To then calculate the Potential Energy (PE), we used the following formula:
PE = mass (N) x gravity (10) x height (m)
1. PE = 0.8.15 x 10 x 0.02m = 0.163J
2. PE = 0.8.15 x 10 x 0.04m = 0.326J
3. PE = 0.8.15 x 10 x 0.06m = 0.489J
4. PE = 0.8.15 x 10 x 0.08 = 0.652J
5. PE = 0.815 x 10 x 0.1 = 0.815J
6. PE = 0.8.15 x 10 x 0.12 = 0.978J
After that we calculated the velocity of the trolley by rearranging the Kinetic Energy (KE) formula:
For all of the different heights, we calculated the velocity.
1. m/s
2. m/s
3. m/s
4. m/s
5. m/s
6. m/s
Next, we calculated for all of the different heights.
Results:
The Affect of Velocity on the Stopping Distance of the Wooden Block
The Affect of V2 on the Stopping Distance of the Wooden Block
Conclusion:
After collecting all of the data and results we realized that our hypothesis, which was: If the speed of the trolley is increased, then the block will travel a further distance meaning that the stopping distance is longer was true. The hypothesis was proven right because as the speed of the trolley increased (by changing the height of the slope), the potential energy also increased and therefore as it hit the wooden block the kinetic energy was greater causing the wooden block to have a longer stopping distance.
Throughout the experiment, we faced some difficulties while letting go of the trolley because sometimes the trolley would not go straight forward done the ramp so therefore we had to repeat this several times and that is the reason why we took an average of two attempts to make our final results as accurate as possible in the given time.
If I was to do this experiment again I would make sure that I took more sets of results and then calculated the average in order to be certain that my results would be as accurate as possible. Instead of using books to change the height of the slope, I think that we could have also used a clamp which would have allowed us to alter the height however we wanted. We measured the width of the books which was 2cm, however I do not think that this is the most accurate way so therefore in the future, I plan to make sure that I am able to alter the height according to what I want and to also make sure that my height calculations are accurate.
In conclusion, the hypothesis which said that as the speed of the trolley increases, the stopping distance would also increase was proven to be true. The data I collected showed that the potential energy increased from 0.163J to 0.978J as the height of the slope was increased. As the potential energy increased, the force at which the trolley was hitting the wooden block was greater meaning that the kinetic energy was larger which made the stopping distance of the trolley increase.
