A Body At Rest / A Body In Motion

LAB INSTRUCTIONS

I. Problems:

1) How does the mass of a body at rest affect its tendency to remain at rest?
2) How does the mass of a body in motion affect its tendency to remain in motion?

II. Observations and Previous Knowledge:

What do you know about the relationship between mass and a body's motion?
Where have you observed this in your everyday life?

III. Hypotheses:

1) As the mass of a body at rest is increased, the distance it moves will ______________.
2) As the mass of a body in motion is increased, the distance it moves will ____________.

IV. Materials:

            Dixie Cup
            Marbles (at least two sizes)
            Ruler
        Constructing ramp:
            String (1/8 inch thick)
            meter stick or yard stick
            masking tape

Instructions

1) Measure two pieces of string about two inches longer than your stick.
2) Run tape them two the top of the meter stick (one on each side) so they form guides to keep the marble from rolling off the sides.
3) Tape them down every 8 inches.
4) Prop it up with two textbooks (2 inches thick each). This should give you a nice ramp.
5) Cut a notch of one square inch in the top of the dixie cup. Place top down at the bottom of the ramp.
6) Start a marble at the top of the ramp. It should roll down the ramp through the notch in the dixie cup, pushing the dixie cup.

V. Experiment Procedure:

        You will be performing five different experiments. Do each at least five and average your results.
            1) The small marble and the dixie cup alone.
            2) The large marble and the dixie cup alone.
            3) The small marble and the dixie cup with a marble on top to increase its mass.
            4) The large marble and the dixie cup with a marble on top to increase its mass.

To conduct the experiment place the marble at the top of the ramp. Let the marble roll down the ramp through the notch in the dixie cup. Measure how far the dixie cup moves. Record this value. Do this five times for each of the four above experiments.
5) Using the small marble repeat experiment three four times, but each time add another marble to the top of the cup to increase its mass.

VI. Data: Construct an appropriate data table for each experiment.

REMEMBER TO LABEL AND TITLE EACH TABLE.

VII. Data Analysis:

1) Graph the results of experment five, the mass of the cup versus distance travelled. BE AWARE OF WHAT GOES ON EACH AXIS AND HOW TO CONSTRUCT IT PROPERLY. REMEMBER: THE VARIABLE THAT YOU CONTROL BEFORE THE EXPERIMENT GOES ON THE HORIZONTAL AXIS.

2) Answer the following questions in complete sentences:

a) How did increasing the mass of the resting cup affect its behavior?
b) How did increasing the mass of the marble rolling down the ramp affect the behavior of the cup?
c) What are all of the factors that could have influenced how far the cup moved in each experiment?
d) Why did the cup and marble(s) stop moving in each experiment?
e) In the second experiment, what did the marbles do after they hit the cup?
f) Which of Newton's laws tell you why the marbles moved the way they did.

VII. Conclusion:

In a short paragraph explain what can you conclude about bodies in motion and bodies at rest.

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