Use the slope-intercept form to write the equation that fits your best fit curve

Question

Use the slope-intercept form to write the equation that fits your best fit curve (a line is a special kind of 'curve').

Constant Velocity Lab

In this lab, we will come up with a mathematical relationship between distance and time for a car that moves at a constant velocity.

Purpose:

To determine the mathematical relationship between distance and time for a battery-powered car and to see how the relationships differ for cars moving at different speeds.

Here's a hint: Time is something you can control quite easily (which variable is this??). For this experiment, you will measure how far your car travels over equal intervals of time.

Materials:

*Battery powered car

*Meterstick

*Timer http://www.metronomeonline.com/ or download a metronome app for your smartphone. Just set the time for your desired interval and turn up the volume.

*Something to mark on the floor

Procedure:

*Start the car moving

*At equal time intervals (1 second, for example, but you could use any time) place a marker at the car's location

*Do this for at least 6 time intervals

*For best results, repeat for two more trials and average your distances

Data:

Put your data into an organized table. Record the value of any constants. Make sure you include units (i.e. centimeters or seconds).

Time, s

Distance, cm

1

2

3

4

5

6

Note: When recording measurement, you should keep all digits you are sure of and then estimate one more digit. For example, if you are using a meter stick to measure distance, and recorded 104.25 cm, this means that you were sure of the distance to the millimeter mark (you know it was 104.2 and not 104.1 or 104.3) and were able to estimate between the millimeter marks. If the distance were exactly on the centimeter mark, you would record the measurement as 104.00 cm to show that you could have estimated between millimeter marks with the equipment you were using.

Graph your data in LoggerPro. "Position" is the dependent variable, so should go on the y-axis and "Time", as the independent variable goes on the x-axis.

Use the slope-intercept form to write the equation that fits your best fit curve (a line is a special kind of 'curve').

Make sure your slope and y-intercept have units and that rather than using x and y as variables, you choose something that better fits your experiment (i.e. t for time)

Conclusion:

*Describe the motion of the car.

*What were your results (describe the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in a clear sentence and restate your equations or mathematical models). Is the car moving at a constant speed? How do you know?

*What is the physical meaning of your slope and y-intercept in terms of the car's motion or starting place? In other words, how does the graph describe the car's motion?

*What terms could you use to describe this relationship? (constant, linear, inverse)

*Is your car moving at a constant speed? How do you know?

*How accurate do you think your results are and why? While you were collecting data, what were places experimental error occurred and how did this affect your results? How could you improve the accuracy of this experiment if you were to do it again?

Post I is your initial conclusion based on the data obtained in your experiment. It should be written in complete sentences.

Post a screenshot of the graph from your Constant Velocity Lab.
Describe the motion of you car. Specifically, how does YOUR GRAPH support your description?
Write an equation for the line of your graph. What is the physical meaning of the slope? What does it tell you about the motion of the car?
What is the physical meaning of the y-intercept? What does this tell you about your data?

Time, s

Distance, cm

1

2

3

4

5

6

Explanation / Answer

Purpose: To determine the mathematical relationship between distance and time for a
battery-powered car and to see how the relationships differ for cars moving at different
speeds.
independent variable ___________________
dependent variable ___________________
Hypothesis: This should be an educated guess so give your reasoning. Also you should
watch the cars move before making your hypothesis.   Make sure your hypothesis
addresses both parts of the purpose statement.
The shape of the graph for distance vs. time or time vs. distance (circle which one
applies to you

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