WHAT HAPPENED?
The taller the starting ramp height was, the greater the distance the plastic container rolled up the ramp.
When the height of the starting ramp was 0 cm (the control group), the average distance the container climbed up the ramp was 0 cm. When the starting ramp height was 3 cm, the average distance the container climbed was 17 cm up the ramp. With the starting ramp height at 6 cm tall, the average roll distance for the container was 29.7 cm up the ramp. When the starting ramp was set to 9 cm, the average distance the plastic container rolled up the ramp was 38.3 cm. Finally, when the starting ramp was at 12 cm, the average distance the plastic container rolled up the ramp was 43.6 cm.
My hypothesis was supported.
WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
…show more content…
Since the plastic container had a greater amount of GPE when rolled from a higher starting ramp, this was converted to a greater amount of kinetic, or moving, energy when rolling down the ramp.
So, with the tallest starting ramp height, the plastic container had the the most kinetic energy. Due to having the greatest amount of kinetic energy, it had the most moving inertia, or momentum in the middle at the bottom.
Newton 's first law states that a body at rest stays at rest and s body in motion stays in motion unless after upon by an unbalanced force (inertia). In this case, the unbalanced force is rolling friction, and it always stayed the same throughout this experiment.
What changed, was the container released from the taller ramp had more GPE, more Kinetic Energy, and more inertia, which caused it to go further up the ramp than the lower one released from the lower ramp, with less GPE, and less