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A few factors (the gradient/height of ramp, the mass of the object, friction, gravity, the energy act on the object or the length of object) can affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp.

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Investigation

A few factors (the gradient/height of ramp, the mass of the object, friction, gravity, the energy act on the object or the length of object) can affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp.

Planning

I am going to do my investigation on ‘ mass of the object’ which I think it is one of the factors that will affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp because when gravitational potential energy equals to mass times gravity times height, so if mass is increased, the gravitational potential energy will increase in proportionally. I will do the experiment by adding weights on top of a wooden cart to increase the mass, and then I will time how long it takes to fall down from the ramp and calculate the final speed by:

Diagram

Weight add to the cart (grams)

0

100

200

300

400

Time (sec)

6’78

6’07

7’21

6’86

6’93

Weight add to the cart (grams)

500

600

700

800

900

Time (sec)

7’19

7’03

6’61

6’77

6’57

My experiment results are:

According to the results, mass does not affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp.

...read more.

Middle

I am going to do it by using a ramp that I can increase the height. Then I will release the cart at the top of the ramp and time how long it will take for the cart to come down. I will increase the height by 5cm each time (5cm, 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 25cm and 30cm). I will take down the time thrice to get the average time of it because it is more reliable. Then I will work out the average speed. I will divide the length of the ramp by the time taken and work out the final speed by doubling the average speed. The length of the ramp is one metre and the weight of the cart is 900 grams.

I can make this a fair test by not pushing the cart, doing average on the time, and keeping the mass the same.

Apparatus

I will need:

A clamp to hold the ramp,

A ramp,

A wooden cart as the object and

A stopwatch for timing

for the experiment.

Safety features

I will

...read more.

Conclusion

At first, I did an experiment on ‘mass of the object’ that takes about 45 minutes but I got results that are not appropriate for my experiment. So I quickly change the investigation on another topic. Although it wastes lots of time, I learn that mass of an object will not affect the final speed of a falling object.

...read more.

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