Physics Lab : Motion of Cars

Motion of the Cars In this part of the experiment, we are trying to figure out how fast each of the cars are moving using our own measurements. We are also asked to make a mathematical equation that describes the motion. What we plan to do is use 2 meter long meter stick to measure the distance of the cars and record the position at each time interval. After that an average velocity can be found. After we used the average velocity, we were able to put it into the equation of a line formula and form an equation to describe each of the cars motions.

Now one of the biggest things that we noticed within the experiment, there was a lot of possibilities for errors. One of the biggest things that we had to overcome was the coordination between ourselves. We had to figure out a timing and coordination between the timer and the person starting the car and also the person who was placing the sugar packets. We practiced many times to minimize the human error. We also recoded the time and position using the front wheel of the car, so whenever the timer would pass a second, we would place the sugar pack where the front wheel was every time. So there was no misrepresentation of the data. Another thing we did was before the car was set on the table we had it running so that when the time started, the car would just move from exactly where it was placed and we wouldn’t have to worry about the start up