Table of Contents
Background Information 1
Research Question 1
Hypothesis 1
Variables 1
Materials 2
Procedure 3
Background Information
Motion is the change of position of an object with respect to time. The physical quantities velocity, acceleration, displacement, time and speed are used in the study of motion. If an object does not change position with respect to time, it is considered as stationary. Note that if an object is motionless, it does not necessarily mean that there is no force acting on it. Motion can also be studied by using momentum (f=((mv-mu))/t ) as a quantity.
Uniform motion is when the displacement of an object is constant with respect to time. Note that there has to be some displacement for it …show more content…
The carpet can create large amounts of friction and the incline of the test course would cancel it out so that both the component of the gravitational force pushing the ball down the slope and the frictional force opposing it would be balanced leading to constant motion. As per Newton’s first Law of Motion, the Ping-Pong ball should maintain a constant velocity under these conditions. The rough corrugated sheet would produce too much friction and slow the object down as the frictional force would overcome gravity. The smooth corrugated sheet would create very little friction and would not oppose gravity, leading to acceleration. The other two cases are expected to …show more content…
The entire set up needs to have one constant incline. Place the wood planks on this setup in order: The smooth corrugated sheet first followed by the rough corrugated sheet and finally the piece of carpet. The 10 cm overhang on the rough corrugated sheet should overhang over the other two. Use a large protractor to measure the angle the slope forms. Then tweak the set up so that it is around 35-40 degrees. Tape the wooden ruler parallel to the incline so that the ball can be seen covering distance. Drop the Ping-Pong ball from a height of 2 cm on the starting edge of the smooth corrugated sheet and let it roll. If the ball moves in almost a straight line and has varied acceleration, move on to the next step. Otherwise, keep on tweaking it until the ball rolls in a straight path. Take a camera recording (slow motion if possible) of the ball rolling down the slope. Take the side view where the wooden ruler can be seen and the ball is rolling alongside the ruler. That way you can take accurate reading and see the actual distance the ball moves. Take one more videos of the ball rolling down the test course.
How to Process