(No Name) 12/2-5/13

610 The Cart Force Experiment Science

Mass is the amount of matter in an object. However, weight is different. Weight is the
amount of gravity pulling an object down. On different planets, the amount of mass is the same.
The amount of gravity will change, so the weight will change. For instance, the moon has a 6
times weaker gravitational pull than the Earth, so you would weigh 6 times less than the moon.
The moon has less mass than the Earth, which makes it have a less gravitational pull.
Force is affected by speed, which is affected by more. More mass creates more speed,
which creates more force. Additionally, force is a push or pull towards an object. However, you
cant see force being applied onto an object. You can only feel it or take an experiment to tell
different amounts of force on an object.
Research Question:
How will increasing the mass of the cart affect the distance the block moves?
Hypothesis:
If we increase the amount of mass on the cart, then the cart will push the block to a further
distance because the cart will create more speed, which will create more speed, to create more
force.
Materials:
1) 1 Ramp (about 33cm wide by 4 cm by 11.5cm high)
2) 1 Piece of Paper & a Pencil (about 53.7cm)
3) 1 Meter Stick
4) 1 Cart (about 53.7 grams)
5) 1 Calculator
6) 2 Tracks (about 55cm each)
7) 3 Cylinders (about 48.8 grams each)
Procedure:
1) Connect the tracks together, and then connect the ramp.
2) Put the meter stick 5cm away from the point where the ramp and track meet.
3) The block is also placed 5cm away from the point where the ramp and track meet.
4) Place the cart on the top of the ramp with the axel of the back wheel on Point A. Let
go of the cart and see the amount of distance (in centimeters) the block moves, but
measure the amount of centimeters from the back of the block (the side where the cart
pushes the block). Repeat this for 4 times.
5) Repeat Step 4 with 1 cylinder, 2 cylinders, and 3 cylinders. The data should be
recorded as a chart with columns of the Release Point, Amount of Cylinders, the Four
Trials (in centimeters) and the average of each of the four columns. Find the average
by adding all 4 trials and dividing it by four (with the calculator).
6) Make a result or conclusion of what you observed, then clean up the materials.
Data:

Data Analysis:
In this experiment, the Independent Variable was the change of the amount of cylinders.
From what the data showed, it supported the hypothesis. As the amount of cylinders increased,
the distance the block moved increased, as the Dependent Variable of this experiment. This was
because of the force on the cart. The change of cylinders was the changing amount of mass,
affecting speed, then force, and distance the block moves.
For example, the average of no cylinders in the cart to push the block was a distance of
15.38 cm. With 1 cylinder (more mass) in the cart, the block got pushed 27.05 cm. This shows
how more mass from the cylinders increase force to the block to move/push it further. Although
the force couldnt be seen in the experiment, the experiment proved how mass affects force.
Conclusion:
This experiments purpose was to see how different amounts of mass (cylinders) applied
on the cart changes the distance the block get pushed. The cart being filled in with no cylinders
traveled the least distance, while the cart filled in with 3 cylinders traveled the most distance.
This supported the hypothesis. But, there couldve been something that affected the experiment.
An affect couldve happened when the cart couldve accidently had a little push down the ramp,
instead of a release of the cart. The meter stick couldve been set away from 5cm from the ramp
(which causes false data), there mightve been a human error while finding the average, the
release point wasnt kept stable at exactly Point A, or the placement of the ramp and the tracks
werent set up in the correct way.
Release
Point
Cylinders Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Average
A 0 15.4 cm 15.1 cm 15.1 cm 15.9 cm 15.38 cm
A 1 25.5 cm 28.7 cm 25.7 cm 28.3 cm 27.05 cm
A 2 37.6 cm 39.5 cm 38.7 cm 38.1 cm 38.48 cm
A 3 44.3 cm 46.2 cm 46.6 cm 46.3 cm 45.85 cm
A new experiment could be comparing them at all release points, such as an experiment
with the distance of the block moving further or not because of mass, with speed from the
different release points. The ruler and block could also be placed further from 5cm, or exactly at
the point where the ramp and track meet together. The block could be changed in another
material, such as a pencil or marble. Even if a new experiment is created, more mass will still
increase the speed of an object, which increases the amount of force applied on another object.