Its All Uphill

Name & Hour: Olivia White

1st hour
Objective:
Students are to find the effect that different angles have on the force needed to
pull the cart up a ramp. Also to discover the mathematical relationships between force
and distance.

Procedure:
Students will take the following materials below to determine the impact different
angles have on the force needed to pull the cart up the ramp. The angle will increase by
10 degrees every trial.

Materials:

Ramp
Cart
String
Spring Scale
Books
Protractor
Meter Stick
Graph Paper/ Pencil

Data:
Angle Force (N) Mass (g) Height (cm) Height
(Degrees) (converted to
M)
 30 1N 500g 30cm 0.3m
40 1.3N 500g 35cm 0.35m
50 1.45N 500g 41.5cm 0.415m
60 3.5N 500g 84cm 0.84m
70 4.1N 500g 98cm 0.98m
80 4.55N 500g 116cm 1.16m
90 4.95N 500g 120cm 1.20m

Force x Distance

1N x 0.3m = .3

1.3N x 0.35m = .455

1.45N x 0.415m = .602

3.5N x 0.84m = 2.94

4.1N x 0.98m = 4.018

4.55N x 1.16m = 5.278

4.95N x 1.20m = 5.94

Mass x Gravity x Distance

500g x 9.81 x 0.3m = 1471.5

500g x 9.81 x 0.35m = 1716.75

500g x 9.81 x 0.415m = 2035.575

500g x 9.81 x 0.84m = 4120.2

500g x 9.81 x 0.98m = 4806.9

500g x 9.81 x 1.16m = 5689.8

500g x 9.81 x 1.20m = 5886

Formulas:

Work (force x distance):

W=Fx x

Potential Energy (mass x gravity x distance):

E = (m)(g)(h)

Notes:
A few things that may have gone wrong during this lab would be the angle
measurements. My group was measuring it from about a inch away due to the books
being in the way. Also the ramp kept sliding while pulling up the cart so the spring scale
may have been slightly off; the books could not hold the weight of the ramp and cart
from sliding.
Evaluation of Data:
Questions:
1. Describe how varying the incline angle affects the force (if at all).
As the incline of the angle gets steeper the force to pull the cart up the
ramp increased. This is because gravity is pulling down on the cart with the steeper
angle.

2. Describe how varying the incline angle affects the work (if at all).
The higher the height the steeper the angle which increases the force it
takes to pull the cart up the ramp.

3. What is the relationship between the applied force and the movement
of the cart called?
 The relationship between the applied force and the movement of the cart
is called friction.
4. If the ramp started flat and the cart had an original distance of 0m,
how much potential energy does the cart have?
If the ramp is flat and the cart had a original distance of 0m than the
potential energy of the car would be 0 also. This is due to the fact that it is at rest.
Now assume the ramp is raised to an angle that lifts the cart 1m from its
original position, how much potential energy does it have now?
It all depends on the angle, but it would be about double its original
amount of energy.
5. Does the work we do create a change in the carts kinetic energy or
its potential energy?
Potential energy because we are changing the angle of the ramp the cart
is going up.
6. Explain how you know that moving the cart up the hill was indeed
working?
You are able to see it in the force results. As the ramp got steeper the
scale went up in newtons showing that moving the cart up the ramp was working.
Discussion & Conclusion:
During this lab my partners and I learned about how different angle can affect the
force and energy on an object. For this lab we had to pull a 500g cart up a 1m ramp at
various angles at a constant speed. To accomplish this my partners and I gave jobs to
one another; one person to hold the ramp still, another to pull the cart up the ramp, one
to measure the height, and the last one to read the scale. By doing this we
accomplished the task fast and precise. We checked all our measurements twice just to
make sure everything was correct for calculations later. While doing this lab we noticed
as the angle increased so did the force needed to pull the cart up the ramp. After
looking over them more than once we noticed the force was increasing by two almost
every time. This lab helped me better understand the different forces and how angles
may affect them; also how energy is involved in everything we do.