Physics“Drag racing”

(aka. 1D Motion MiniLab)

Overview

• For this mini-lab, you will “race” toy cars• You will measure components of its motion• You will then use your measurements to create distance-time graph

and a velocity time graph• You will then calculate the instantaneous acceleration for every

separate leg of the “race”

What you’ll need

• You will be in teams of 2-3• Each team will have a toy car and at least one meter stick• Each team will need to use their iPad to record each trial• You may want to use the stopwatch feature as well

Documentation

• You can turn in one paper per individual

• Each person will use a different toy car, so data will be different for each person

Sections

• Objective: To determine the deceleration caused by the friction between a toy car and another surface• Hypothesis: N/A• Experiment: Write all of the steps of your experiment in this section.

REMEMBER, be as specific and clear as you can• Data: A data table, 1-3 graphs, examples of each type of calculation

that you performed• Conclusion: Answer three questions

Suggestions

• It is suggested that you tape a small, skinny piece of paper to the meter stick at set intervals• This will make it easier to see where key units are (say every 10 cm)

• Decide upon where your starting point will be and put the meterstick aside it

• The time that you are recording starts then the “nose” of the car crosses the starting line

Recording data

• You will need to do 3 trials• For each trial, you will need to record the distance that the car travels

every 1s• If the car travels for less than 1 s, then record that fraction of a second

(ie .2 s, .45 s, etc)

• Put all of your information in a data table

Data TableTrial #1 Trial #2 Trial #3 Standard

Deviation of

Distance Travelled

Time Segment

Distance Travelled

Insantaneous Velocity

Instantaneous Acceleration

Time Segment

Distance Travelled

Insantaneous Velocity

Instantaneous Acceleration

Time Segment

Distance Travelled

Insantaneous Velocity

Instantaneous

Acceleration

Average Velocity

Average Velocity

Average Velocity

Graphing

• Use the data table to make a distance-time graph for each trial• You can make three separate graphs OR make one graph with all three

lines on it (if you choose this option, label the lines or else color code them)

• You will then need to make a velocity-time graph for each trial• You have the same option as with the distance-time graphs

Conclusion

• Answer the following questions:• How precise where your time trials?• Look at the profile of your graphs: How similar are they? Describe why you

think they are similar or dissimilar.• Compare your instantaneous accelerations for your last time segment with

those of your group: How similar are they? Describe why you think they are similar or dissimilar.• Choose one of your velocities (other than zero) from a time trial and

compare it to the average velocity for that time trial: How similar are they? Describe why you think they are similar or dissimilar.