Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Marble motion

In my science class we did a lab about motion. we were seeing how hard you had to blow on marbles for them to move. Me and my partner had no problem with that because they always moved.

Guiding question- Does the mass of the marble affect how it moves?
When given a force, what happens to it's motion?

Hypothesis- I think that the smaller and lighter ball will move easier and faster.

Materials

  • small marble
  • big marble
  • tennis ball
  • metal marble
  • ping pong ball
  • small foam ball
Data my partner and I got


Small marble- light breath- moved 10inches
Hard breath-40+inches
Big marble- light breath - 22in.
Hard breath-40+ in.
Metal marble- light breath- 22in.
Hard breath- 40+ inches
Ping pong- ball light breath- 40+ in.
Hard breath-40+ in.
Small foam ball- light-40+ in.
Hard breath-40+ in.
Tennis ball- light breath- 6 in.
Hard breath- 16 in.

Data analysis

I can tell from the data I got that  the weight is a big factor in how far and fast the ball will move.  Also all the balls moved left and right they did not go in a straight line. It was not so much how big it was if it was light. The one that moved the least was the tennis ball because it was heavy and big, but it did move. One that was not that small was the ping pong ball, and it moved the farthest. It was hollow and very light.

 Conclusion

From my data I can tell that my hypothesis was incorrect. Actually it does not really matter on a balls size when it is moving unless it is really big of really small. It really only matter on it's mass. If it is light it will move far and fast, but heavy it will move a bit and slowly.  I also noticed that the balls almost never went in a straight line they would always be going to the left and the right. When you give the balls a  lot of force they move much faster, easier, and slower. If you do not really give to much force it will not move too much unless it is really light.

Further inquiry

If I were to do this project again I would use a bigger variety of balls. Another thing that  I would do is to make a track so it could not curve too much. Also I would weigh each of them to get a better answer. All in all I am happy with how I worked with my partner and did in general. If I did this again though I know there are ways I could do better.



           

Thursday, May 12, 2011

From Feet to Fathoms Lab Activity



Guiding Question:
How accurate are old measurements using body parts? What is the importance of having an International measuring system?
 Hypothesis
I think that the old way of measuring was not correct and is a bit harder to use. It was not correct because everyone is different is size so when measuring things like a fathom, pace, or English yard they can be the same, small, or really big difference in length.
Materials:
·         A white board
·         A space book
·         A desk
·         A hallway
·         A peep
·         A ruler
·         A calculator
·         Pace: legs outstretched =1 yard approximately or 1 meter
Egyptian cubit= elbow to tip of the middle finger= 18 inches or 45 cm
Fathom = middle finger to middle finger across the body = 6 feet, 180 cm, 1.8m
Palm = across the palm of the hand = 3 inches or 8 cm
Hand including thumb = 4 inches or 10 cm
Span = from tip of thumb to tip of little finger= 3 palms or 9 inches or 24 cm
English yard = from fingertip of arm to nose = 36 inches or about 1 meter
Foot = 12 “or 30 cm approximately
Fingernail = tip of pinky =1/2 inch = 1 cm.
Procedure:
1.       Make a data table with 7 rows and 7 columns.
2.       Choose six items to measure.
3.       Decide which unit of measurement you will use.
4.       Now measure it three times then calculate the average.
5.       Next you measure the actual length with a ruler.
6.       Repeat the steps 3-5 with the rest of the items.
7.       Now compare the answers you got.

This is what the table should look like
Item
Type of measurement
Try 1
Try 2
Try 3
Average
Real measurement
White board






book






desk






hallway






peep







Record & Analyze 
Data Analysis:
I know that the data we got is right because there is not really any way to make a mistake in this. Half of the time the lengths were the same or really close. They were the same or really close on the space book, crayon box, and the peep. I think the measurements of the bigger objects were off.  Because  on bigger objects you would use fathoms(6 feet) to measure it quicker and when both of your arms are stretched out it is your height, so not everyone is different height so it does not really equal six feet.


Conclusion:
In this project to measure everything we used a meter stick and we measured in inches. It is important to have an international measuring system because when there is something important and you need to measure something and you do not have any way to measure it, but with the international measuring system you can.  The answer to the guiding question is that it is not very accurate but the measuring system can work for some people and you already know why it is important to have an international measuring system. It is the easiest to measure smaller items like the peep, space book, and the crayon box. Those were also the most accurate. When we were measuring were mostly used fathoms and inches. With the peep we used inches, and with the hallway we used fathoms.. For the forms of measurement they used a long time ago I think was good then but now we have an even better way of measuring.

Further inquiry:
If I had done this lab again I would change how I did a few things. I would have used other measurements to just try them. Something we did that was wrong was that the first time we did the measuring we only measured each thing once, but we went back and fixed it. The only question that I have is, were there any other measurements they used.