Away You Go

Objective

Students will explore friction.

Description

Students will build cars and roll them down a ramp. The ramp will have two types of surfaces: smooth and rough. The wheels of the car will have different surfaces. The different surfaces will help students understand friction.

Procedures

Preparation Before Students Arrive:
Prop the ramp against a chair.

In-class Activity:

• Students will build cars. They will change the wheels each time they roll the car down the ramp. They can use rubber wheels, hubs without wheels, gears, and so forth.
• Each time the car rolls down the ramp with a different wheel surface, measure the distance the car travels.
• Change the surface of the ramp by adding carpet, and measure the distance that the cars travel with rubber wheels and other types of wheels.

Discussion

• Why do you think different materials make the cars go faster or slower?
• How could you make the cars go even faster? How could you make them go slower?

Continuation

Change the angle of the ramp and repeat the experiment. Does this affect the results? Why or why not?