Summer Institute 2013

Unit 1 Activity 1

The Notion of Motion

MATERIALS
Spark timer Spark timer tape Tumble Buggy Ruler Labeling tape Glue stick
PRE-LAB
How can motion be described? Motions we encounter every day seem different in some way: a leaf flutters to the
ground; a jet flies overhead; a rock rolls down a hill. One way of describing motion is by taking the total distance traveled
divided by the total time it takes for that travel.
Clear a path for your buggy to move across your table. Measure a 1 meter (100 centimeters) distance on your table top
and mark the beginning and end of this distance with labeling tape. Set the buggy on the table and time—in seconds—
how long it takes it to go a distance of 1 meter. Stop the buggy before it goes off the table. Calculate the average
velocity—in cm/sec—of the buggy over the 1 meter distance:
distance traveled (100 cm)
average velocity of buggy = = ______________________________cm/sec
time (sec)
If we want to describe the motion of an object we need to know more than just the total distance and time traveled. For
example, if you travel 300 miles on an interstate highway in 6 hours, your average velocity would be 50 miles/hour. But
were you maintaining a constant velocity of 50 miles/hour at all times during your trip? There will be times during the
trip where you are speeding up or slowing down; you could even be stopped at your favorite fast-food place where your
speed is zero. It is valuable to know distances over smaller intervals of time in our effort to describe motion.
One device we can use to measure smaller time intervals is a spark-timer. The spacing between the markings can give a
more precise description of the motion than the calculation of total distance divided by total time. In addition, the
distances between the markings can be used to quantify and also graph the motion. The motion of a battery operated
Tumble Buggy will be analyzed in this activity.
On the graph provided, draw what you predict the position-time graph will look like as the buggy moves away from the
spark-timer device.
Buggy

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Unit 1 Activity 1

On the graph provided below, draw what you predict the velocity-time graphs will look like as the buggy moves away
from the spark-timer device.

PROCEDURE

1. Feed a 50-60 cm strip of timer tape through the spark timer and attach the lead end of the timer tape to the rear of
the buggy using a piece of clear tape.

2. Clear off a path for the car to travel on and set your spark timer to 10 Hz.

3. After turning the timer on, start the buggy and allow it to pull the entire strip of tape through the timer. Make sure
you stop the car before it goes off the edge of the table!

a. Describe the motion of the car as it pulled the tape. Explain how your spark data supports your description of the
car’s motion.

4. Label the spark marks on the lead end of your timer tape zero and label each subsequent set of marks in order from 1
to 10, as shown below.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5. Complete Table 1-1 showing the position of each spark mark (its distance in cm from the zero mark) and the TOTAL
time in seconds from the zero mark. Be sure to measure the position of the buggy to the nearest 0.1 cm.

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Table 1-1
Total time Position
(sec) (cm)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0

6. Plot your data points of Position in cm vs. TOTAL time in seconds.

Graph 1-1: Buggy Position-Total Time

Position
(cm)

Total time (sec)

a. What feature of this graph best supports your earlier description of the car’s speed in #3?

7. Using a ruler, sketch a line that best fits the points on your graph in #6 where the interval lengths are uniform.
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a. Determine the slope of the line you drew for your buggy’s position-time graph. Show your work and include
units on your value for the slope of your line.

Calculations of slope Slope of line

-

b. What aspect of the buggy’s motion does the slope you calculated measure?

8. Cut the timer tape at each set of spark marks. Use a glue stick to paste the resulting strips in order from 1-10 on a
sheet of graph paper so that they resemble a bar graph. Make sure that the bottom of each strip is even with the
horizontal axis. We’ll use this graph later to help analyze the motion of the buggy.

Back to our original question: How can we describe motion? In the beginning of this activity you described the motion of
the buggy in terms of its average velocity over the entire time it took it to travel 1 meter. Let’s now look at what
happened to the average velocity of the buggy over smaller time intervals.
9. Measure the length of each tape strip and enter them in order from 1 to 10 in Table 1-2 below:

Table 1-2

Time Interval Interval Average Velocity

(sec) Distance (cm) (cm/s)
0.0-0.1
0.1-0.2
0.2-0.3
0.3-0.4
0.4-0.5
0.5-0.6
0.6-0.7
0.7-0.8
0.8-0.9
0.9-1.0

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10. a. Determine the average velocity during each time interval:

Average velocity = interval distance (cm)

0.1 (sec)

Record these average velocity values in Table 1-2 above.

b. How does the average velocity you calculated in the Pre-lab compare to the average velocity for each time
interval in Table 1-2?

11. Plot a graph of average velocity vs. TOTAL time for the buggy.

Graph 1-2: Buggy Average Velocity-Total Time

Average
Velocity
(cm/sec)

Total time (sec)

a. How does your velocity-total time graph compare to your bar graph you made with the timer tape pieces in #8?.

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12. From the evidence we’ve produced we can say that the buggy’s velocity appears to increase as it starts from rest and
then reaches a constant velocity for the rest of its journey. Can we say with absolute certainty that the velocity of the
buggy was constant during each time interval once the buggy reached its maximum speed? Explain.

13. How did your predictions for the buggy’s position-time and velocity-time graphs at the beginning of this activity
compare with the graphs generated from the spark-timer data?

Let’s briefly review the results of our experiment in measuring the motion of the buggy. We used a spark-timer device to
measure the successive positions of a moving buggy at known time intervals. From this we calculated first the distance
intervals and then the speed between successive positions. We soon discovered that (within the limits of precision of
our measurement) the velocity did not change. Objects that move in this manner are said to have a uniform or constant
velocity. We now know how to recognize constant velocity on a strip of spark-timer tape (equal lengths between “spark”
marks) and graphically from position-time (straight line, non-zero slope) and velocity-time graphs (straight line, zero
slope). But you’ll recall the buggy went from rest to a constant speed. To do this, the buggy must have had a non-
constant speed during the beginning of its motion. We will explore the motion of an object undergoing a non-constant
speed in the next section.

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Unit 1 Activity 1

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