2-4 Examining the effects of mass on an object.

In today’s lab, the students set up experiments to examine the effect mass has on an object while maintaining a constant force. The students added up to two different wooden blocks to their standard vehicles to investigate the effects of a load on motion. During the lab, the students measured the time it took for a loaded vehicle to move a given distance. They then discussed and graphed their results and observations, which provided a good review of past math concepts: range, median and mode. Two new vocabulary words the students learned were:

 Mass- the amount of material in an object

Weight- the amount of force gravity exerts on an object’s  mass.

 Lesson Summary:

A. What did you observe when testing various loads  (blocks)?

Team F:

* Every time a block was removed, less time was recorded. (Used 13 washers)

Team D:

* With five washers and no blocks, the car went its fastest, staying in a range of 2-4 seconds.

Team A:

* When two blocks and ten washers were moved, we had to tap it a bit to get it to move.

*  On one of the trials, no blocks had the same time as two blocks.

B. How did the vehicle move when it was loaded with two blocks?

Team B:

* We needed to push the vehicle to get it to move.

Team C:

* It took 31 washers to move the car.

C. How did the motion of the vehicle change when you removed one block? How did it change when you removed both blocks?

All groups: The car went faster.

D.  When the vehicle carried no blocks, what was left to influence it’s motion?

Group C: The weight of the vehicle itself.

F. What can you conclude about the effects of load on a vehicle’s motion?

How heavy the car is depends on how fast it is.