Bailey Brammer

William Hertel and Karolina Wolny

August 25, 2014
"Broom Broom"
Beginning Question: What is the mathematical and graphical representation
between the distance the car traveled and the time it took the car to travel?
Prediction: The relationship between the time it takes for the car to travel and
the distance traveled will be a direct relationship, so for every foot that the car
travels, it will take more time.
Materials:
-one red, battery-operated toy car
-one meter stick
-one ruler
-one piece of chalk
-one stopwatch or iPad timer
Procedure:
First of all, as a group, designate one person who will be the leader of the group,
one person who will record data and one person who will be in charge of
timekeeping. Next, choose a long area of sidewalk, where there is enough room
for at least 20 feet of measurements. Proceed to use the ruler and chalk to mark
the concrete at one foot intervals in a straight line, until you reach 20 feet. Then,
place the car just before your measurements begin. Start the car, and record the
time it takes for it to travel 2 feet. Use the meter stick as a barrier to stop the car

at the 2 foot mark. Record the time it took for the car to travel 2 feet, and then
record how much time it takes for the car to travel 4 feet, 6 feet, 8 feet, etc. until
the car has traveled 20 feet. Then, repeat the whole experiment again, starting at
2 feet and going back up to 20 feet. Be sure to keep track of your data points and
to wear close-toed shoes so that if the car veers off-course, your feet will be
protected.
Data:
Distance
(in feet)

Time
(in seconds)
of trial one

Time
(in seconds)
of trial two

Average time
(in seconds)

Average speed
(in ft/s)

2 feet

1.31 seconds

1.35 seconds

1.33 seconds

1.50 ft/s

4 feet

2.71 seconds

2.59 seconds

2.65 seconds

1.51 ft/s

6 feet

3.77 seconds

3.72 seconds

3.75 seconds

1.6 ft/s

8 feet

5.19 seconds

5.07 seconds

5.13 seconds

1.56 ft/s

10 feet

6.41 seconds

6.58 seconds

6.50 seconds

1.54 ft/s

12 feet

7.87 seconds

8.08 seconds

7.98 seconds

1.50 ft/s

14 feet

9.26 seconds

9.22 seconds

9.24 seconds

1.52 ft/s

16 feet

10.33 seconds

10.60 seconds

10.47 seconds

1.53 ft/s

18 feet

12.60 seconds

12.14 seconds

12.37 seconds

1.46 ft/s

20 feet

13.76 seconds

13.79 seconds

13.78 seconds

1.45 ft/s

Observations:
-For every 2 feet the car traveled, it took about 1.5 seconds.
-When comparing the times of trial one to trial two, some times, such as 9.22
seconds and 9.26 seconds, were very close, while others, such as 12.6 seconds
and 12.14 seconds, were almost a half a second apart.

-The two farthest distances, 18 and 20 feet, produced

the fastest speeds of 1.45 ft/s and 1.46 ft/s.

Calculations:
Finding the average between two times:

Finding the average speed of the car:

Graph:

Distance
(feet)

Distance Traveled vs. Time

Time (seconds)

Claims:
The theory equation we discussed as a group is what is known as a constant
velocity equation.

The variables that are present in the equation each have their own individual
meaning. Distance, which in the case of the experiment, is the space between the
initial position and the final position, is simply a number that represents how far
you are from any given point, (again, the space between the initial position and
the final position). Position, which appears in the equation as both final position
and initial position, is the disatnce you are away and the direction from a given
point. Time is the amount of seconds that elapse as you travel from one position
to the next. Velocity is the change in position in a given time that is traveled. In
the experiment, the initial position is the starting point of the car, the final
position is where the car traveled to, the velocity is the distance the car traveled
divided by the time it took the car to travel, and the time is simply how long it
took the car to get from point A to point B.

Evidence:
This equation can be discovered from the graph we created, which depicted the
relationship between distance and time. The eqaution that makes up the graphs
line of best fit is in the slope formula of y=m+b, but it appears as distance=1.46
ft/sec + 0.2812 ft. The equation of the graph relates to the constant velocity

equation because in order to find the speed and velocity of an object, one must
have the distance the object traveled, and the time it took the object to travel that
distance. The variables differ, as do the units, but the idea remains, that you
cannot determine velocity without speed and distance.
Errors and Improvements:
Errors are ultimately inevitable in any human activity. The main sources of error
in the experiment was that the car had a tendency to veer off to the left, causing
some trials to take longer than others. One way to improve this issue would be to
design a track on which the car could travel, and make sure that the track left no
space for the car to go off-course. Another error in the experiment was the
surface on which the car raced, which had a slight incline and was full of indents
and cracks. An improvement that could be made in this case would be to find a
flat, smooth course for the car to ride on, in order to avoid any incline or cracks.
Reflections:
At the start of this experiment, my ideas of speed, distance, velocity and position
were all very general and mis-informed. I believed that speed and velocity were
the same exact thing, and that distance and position had absolutely nothing to do
with one another. However, after completing this experiment, I have learned that
distance is nothing without position, and velocity and speed are two similar
variables used to identify how quickly an object travels from point A to point B.
In the real world, objects travel back and forth all the time, with scalar measures
such as 60 mph. While many people do not understand the physics behind how
their cars and bikes get from place to place, simple experiments such as the one

our class completed shed new light on subjects that humans would otherwise be
ignorant to.
Readings:
The source states that the average velocity is the change in position, divided by
the time during which the change occurred, and that the equation for motion of
average velocity is: = + ! . The textbook also covers that the differences
between speed and velocity are that speed distance over time, and velocity is
distance over time with a direction. In the text, the equations present are exactly
the same as the constatnt velocity theory, meaning that our means of finding
information could be similar. However, upon further reading, the text examines
how quickly a jogger travels instead of how quickly a car travels. The section also
examined how motion maps relate to finding average speed and velocity.

Zitzewitz, P., Elliot, T., Haase, D., Harper, K., Herzog, M., Nelson, J., ... Zorn, M.
(2009). 2.4 How fast? In Physics: Principles and Problems (pp. 43-47).
Columbus, OH: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.