What Goes Up - Position and Time for a Cart on a Ramp
Recommended for grades 9–12.
Introduction
When a cart is given a brief push up a ramp, it will roll back down again after reaching its highest point. Algebraically, the relationship between the position and elapsed time for the cart is quadratic in the general form
where y represents the position of the cart on the ramp and x represents the elapsed time. The quantities a, b, and c are parameters which depend on such things as the inclination angle of the ramp and the cart’s initial speed. Although the cart moves back and forth in a straight-line path, a plot of its position along the ramp graphed as a function of time is parabolic.
Objectives
- Record position versus time data for a cart rolling up and down a ramp.
- Determine an appropriate parabolic model for the position data using the x- and y- intercept information.
Sensors and Equipment
This experiment requires each of the following Vernier sensors and equipment (unless otherwise noted):
Additional Requirements
You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?
Standards Correlations
See all standards correlations for Real-World Math Made Easy »
Included in the Lab Book
Vernier lab books include a CD with word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.