Title: Exploring how the height of a ramp affects the average speed of a trolley.
Introduction:
In our lab, we changed the height of the ramp. In the first trials, we placed
the ramp 0,19 M (19 Cm) above the floor, the second time we place it, 0,35 M
(35 Cm), third time we placed it 0,49 M (49 Cm), and the fourth and the last
time, we placed it 0,63 (63 Cm). We did this to obtain, how the height of the
ramp affects the speed, by placing a trolley on the ramp, and recording the
time it took for it to pass a two-meter's border.
Background:
Speed is basically, a specific distance traveled, (in Meters) in a specific
amount of time in Seconds). To obtain the speed, of the traveling "object"
you would have to use the following method: S = D/T , were S is speed, D is
the distance (in Meters), T is the Time (in Seconds).
Everything that has mass, has gravity. If you go anywhere on the earth, the
gravity will be the same, meaning 9,8 m/s. That means that the mass of the object
has no significance. Now if you throw a10 Kg bag from the 9th floor, and a block
of 100 Kg Iron, the both would land at the same time. The only "consideration"
that could change this is the surface area of the iron block or the bag. This
is because if there is more surface area, more air particles would hit the object
falling down; that means that the air resistance is greater on a object with
greater surface area. Thus if you throw a paper down from your desk, at the
same time as throwing a perfume bottle (of metal), the metal perfume bottle
would hit the ground first, because the paper has the most surface area, even
though the bottle is heavier. That proves that mass doesn't affect the speed,
but the surface area does, because of, the more surface area there is, the more
air particles in the air are hitting the traveling object. So thus more surface
area means more air resistance.
Forces are measured in Newtons (N). If the forces are balanced there is no acceleration,
while if it unbalanced acceleration occurs. Here is an example.
There are two kinds of energies, potential and kinetic energy. The potential energy is the energy that I stored in an object, while kinetic energy is the energy which is moving. So when an object Is still, it still has energy stored in it, and because energies cant be created or destroyed, and just can be altered into another kind of energy, the potential energy doesn't get destroyed, it just gets converted into kinetic energy. When the mass of an object which has potential energy is increased, the kinetic energy is also increases when it is realised.
Formulae for Potential and Kinetic energy:
Potential energy = mass x gravity x objects height from floor
Kinetic energy = mass x velocity2 / 2