Name

Period

Date

ContentObjective:Youwilldesignandexecuteanexperimenttoanswerareallife
question.
LanguageObjective:YouwilluseAcademicEnglishtoraiseissuesandanswer
concerns.

AnticipationGuide
RhetoricalQuestions:
Doesanyonecarrychangeanymore?
Ispocketchangeworthitsweightinmetal?
Haveyouevercollectedchangeinajarandwonderedifyoucouldreallybuy
somethingbig?
Let'sconsidernickels.Basedonwhatyoualreadyknow,givethesequestions
yourbestanswers.
Howmuchdoyouthinkanickelweighs?grams
Howmanynickelsareinaroll?
Howmuchisarollworthindollars?
Aretherelargerblocksofnickelsavailablethanaroll?
Whatwouldthatblockbenamed?
Howmuchwouldthatblockweigh?
Howmuchdoyouthinkacarweighs?

Review
ScientificNotationisashorthandmethodforexpressingverylargeorverysmall
numbers.
AnumberexpressedinScientificNotation(S.N.)consistsoftwoparts.Firstisjust
thedigitswiththedecimalpointplacedafterthefirstdigit.
Measurementsincludenumbersandunits.Mathematicaloperationsapplyto
unitsaswellasnumbers.Themosteffectivewaytoinsurethatconversionsare
donecorrectlyistoinsurethatunitscancelleavingonlytheunitsinquestion.
UsingconversionfactorsinTable1,makethefollowingconversions.Expressall
answersinS.N..
Table1:U.S.andMetricConversions
Metric
1gram(g)
1000g=1kilogram(kg)
1Ton<Metric>
1liter(l)
1liter(l)
1meter(m)

U.S.
3.527x102 ounce(oz)
2.205pound(lbs)
1.102Ton<us>=2000lbs
2.642x101 gallon(gal<us>)
2.113pint(pt<us>)
1.094yard(yd)

1)Ifayardis32inches,howmanyinchesarethereinameter?

2)Ifaliterofwaterweighsakilogram,howmanypoundsisagallon?

KeyVocabularyReview

Convert

Dissimilar

Phenomenon

Ratio

Units

NickelLab
Thepurposeoftoday'slabistodeterminethemassofnickelsneededtobuy
the2014BMWshownbelow.

20144Series428iSULEV
Price:$35,999
Mileage:4,465

Reference:
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=&
newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=
m3&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=92610&distance=MILES_100&searchChanged=true&modelCha
nged=true&filtersModified=true
Accessed02Jul14

Inordertomakethisdetermination,thereareseveralquestionsthatwewill
needtoanswer.
Take5minuteswithyourresearchteamanddecidewhichquestionsweneed
toanswer.Nominateonespokespersontopresentyourteam'sfindings.Use
thesentencefragment:

"Todeterminethemassofnickelsneededtopurchasethis
automobile,wewillneedtodetermine______."and"Our
plantomakethisdeterminationisto________."

Usethespacebelowtodeterminethenumberofnickelsneededtobuythis
car.Forconvenience,nickelsareavailablefromthebankin$2.00rollsand
$100boxes.Howmanynickelsareinaroll?HowmanyRollsinabox?Show
yourwork.Thisallowsareviewertodetermineifthecalculationwasdone
correctly.

NumberofnickelstobuytheBMW:__________

Numberofnickelsinaroll:__________

NumberofNickelsinabox:_________

NumberofboxesofnickelstobuytheBMW:_________

Nextwewillneedtodeterminethemass(weight)ofanickel.Thereis
probablysomevariationinthemass,soanaveragemasswillbedetermined.
Therearetwoacceptablewaystoaccomplishthis.
1. Takethetotalweightof10nickelsanddivideby10.
2. Weigh10nickelsindividuallyandaveragetheweights.
Determinethemethodthatyouwillusetomakethisdeterminationwithyour
researchteam.UseScienceSpeak(thirdperson,passivevoice,precise
vocabulary)tojustifyyourteam'sdecisioninthespacebelow.(Usethebackof
thispageifthereisinsufficientroom.)

Thefundamentalconsiderationforanyexperimentistheaccuracyofthedata.
Onecanhelpensurethisaccuracybyansweringthefundamentalquestion,"How
doIknow?"Inthiscaseansweringthequestion,"HowdoIknowthatthisdatais
accurate?"ateverystepwillguideyourprocedure.
ForExample:
Q:HowdoIknowtheweightofanickel?
A:Ideterminedtheweightmydirectmeasurement.
Q:HowdoIknowthattheweightIdeterminedisaccurate?
A:IdeterminedfirstthatmyinstrumentwasfunctioningcorrectlythenI
accountedforvariationbyaveragingthemassof10nickels.
Q:HowdoIknowthatthenickelsweren'tcontaminated?
A:Icleanedthenickelspriortoweighingthemandwascarefulnottotouchthem.

Whatotherquestionscouldimpacttheaccuracyofyourdata?Whatstepswill
youtaketoaddresstheseissues?

WeighingNickels
Followthesestepbystepinstructionsforweighing.
1)Recordthebalancenumberused.

BalanceNumber:_________
2)Insurethatthebalanceison.Ifnot,presstheTarebutton.
3)Insurethatthebalancepanisclean.Ifitisnot,useawipetocleanitandwait
forthepantodry.
4)Protectthebalancepanbyplacingaweighingboatonthebalancepan.
5)PressTareto'zero'thebalance.
6)Withtheprovidedforceps,placethe2grcheckweightontheweighboat.
7)Recordthemassofthecheckweight.

Nominalmassofcheckweight:__________10%ofnominalweight_________

NominalWeight+10%:_________NominalWeight10%:_________

Displayedmassofcheckweight:__________
Isthedisplayedweightwithin10%ofthenominalweight?Y/N(circleone)
8)ReplacethecheckweightinitsboxandzerothebalancebypressingTare.
9)Wipethesamples(nickels)cleanpriortoweighing.Donottouchsampleswith
yourfingersaftercleaning.
10)Placethesamplesonthebalancewiththeforcepsandrecordthemass.(If
morethanoneweighingisconducted,pressTarebetweensamples.)
11)Usethespacebelowtorecordyourdata.Ifamistakeismade,crossoutthe
errorwithasinglelinesuchthatthemistakeisstillreadable.Initialanddate
besidethecrossout.

DataPage

Calculations
MassofasingleNickel:___________

Massofarollofnickels:___________

Massofaboxofnickels:___________

Massofnickelsneededtobuythespecified
BMW:___________

BonusQuestion
Ifsufficienttimeremains,gototheinternetandconductagooglesearchto
determinethecurbweightofa20144Series428iSULEV.
Isthecarworthitsweightinnickels?(Whichweighsmore?Thecarortheamount
ofnickelsneededtobuyit?)

WrapUp
Provideaninformaldefinitionforeachoftheseterms:

Consideration

Critical

Forceps

Fundamental

Mass

Nominal

RhetoricalQuestion

Variation

Beforeleaving,provideconstructivefeedbackforonethingthatyou
thoughtwentwellwiththelabandonethingthatshouldbechanged.
(+/)