Name____________________________________Date_____________

PartI:Energy

1.Placeoneofthehalfcupsonitssideonasmooth,levelsurface,sothatitmakesacavewith
anopeningononeside.

2.Taketurnstorollamarbleintotheopenendofthecup,andobservewhathappenswhen

themarblehitsthebackofthecup
themarbleisrolledatdifferentspeeds
themarbleisrolledfromdifferentdistancesofthecup

3.Whathappenswhenthemarblehitsthebackofthecup?Isthecupsmotionsmoothand
continuous(allatonce)?

4.Whathappenstothecupwhenyourollamarbleveryslowlyintoit?Whathappenswhenthe
marblemovesfaster?

5.Whathappenstothecupwhenthemarbleisrolledfromaclosedistance?Fromfaraway?

PartII:Height

1.Stack3booksonalevelsurface(adeskorthefloor).Leantheruleronthebookssoitmakes
aramp.Therulershouldbeplacedsothatthelowernumbersareatthebaseoftheramp.Fix
therulerinplacewithtapesoitwillnotmovefromoneexperimenttothenext.

2.Placeahalfcupatthebaseoftherampsothatamarblerollingdowntherampwillenterthe
cupandpushit.

3.Positiononemarbleatthetopoftheruler(30cm)andletitgo.

4.Howfardidthecupmove?Measurefromthebaseoftheramptowherethecupcametorest.
(NOTE:thecupmaybeatanangletotheramp,someasurefromalinethatcrossesthe
midpointofthecupedge

5.Repeattheexperiment2moretimes,sothatyouwillhave3measurements.Averageyour3
measurements.

6.Nowreleasethemarblefrom3/4ofthewayuptheramp(at22.5cm),halfwayuptheramp(15
cm),andofthewayuptheramp(7.5cm).Besuretoreleasethemarblethreetimesfrom
eachpositionontheramp,andcalculateanaverage.

7.RecordallyourmeasurementsontheStudentWorksheettableonthenextpage.

8.Measurehowfarthecupmoveswhenonemarbleisreleasedfromeachoftheseramp
heights:
(1marble)
Heightreleased

Trial1(cm) Trial2(cm)

Trial3(cm) Average(cm)

30cm
22.5cm
15cm
7.5cm

9.Howdoestheheightfromwhichthemarbleisreleasedaffectthedistancethecuptravels?

10.Whichofthesemarbleshadthemostgravitationalpotentialenergy?

11.Graphyourresults(makesureyoulabelyourgraph!)
PartIII:Mass

1.Repeattheexperimentabovereleasing2marblestogether,insteadofjust1.Placethe
marblesonebehindtheotherontheruler,makingsurethattheleadmarbleisatthecorrectspot
ontheramp(i.e.30,22.5,15,and7.5cm).

2.Recordhowfarthecupmoveswhentwomarblesarereleasedfromeachoftheseheights:

(2marbles)
Heightreleased

Trial1(cm) Trial2(cm) Trial3(cm) Average(cm)

30cm
22.5cm
15cm
7.5cm

3..Howdoesthemassofthemarblesaffectthedistancethecuptravels?

4.Whichofthesemarbleshadthemostgravitationalpotentialenergy?

5.Graphyourresults(makesureyoulabelyourgraph!)

PartIV:Velocity

1.Takeawaythecupfromtherampsetup.

2.Measureadistanceof1meterfromthebaseoftheramp.Markthatdistancewithtape.

3.Useastopwatchtotimehowlongittakesforamarbletogofromthebaseoftheramptothe
1metermark.Releasethemarblefromthetop(30cm),3/4ofthewayup(22.5cm),halfwayup
(15cm),and1/4ofthewayup(7.5cm).Makesurethatyourepeattheexperiment3timesat
eachrampheight.

4.Inthetablebelow,recordyourmeasurementsofhowlongittakesforthemarbletoreachthe
1metermarkwhenreleasedfromeachoftheseheights.

5.Alsointhetablebelow,calculateandrecordtheaveragetimeofallthreetrials.

6.Thencalculatethevelocity(1meter/averagetime)andrecorditinthetablebelow.

Heightreleased Trial1(s) Trial2(s) Trial3(s)

30cm
22.5cm
15cm
7.5cm

7.Howdoestheheightfromwhichthemarbleisreleasedaffecthowlongittakesthemarbleto
reachthe1metermark?Averagetimetoreach1metermark(s)Velocity(m/s)

8.Whichofthesemarbleshadthemostkineticenergy?