SCIENCE INVESTIGATION EXPERIMENT FINAL
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aaishikiofficialSCIENCE INVESTIGATION EXPERIMENT FINAL
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aaishikiofficialCart Inventive Investigations
Research Question:
To what extent do different types of friction affect the distance traveled and
speed of a body?
Background information:
The two types of friction being tested here are rolling friction and sliding
friction. Friction is the resistance that is generated when 2 or more bodies rub
against each other. Friction also creates heat energy, hence why 2 rocks produce a
spark of flame when rubbed together.
Rolling friction is a type of friction that resists a rolling body against a
surface. Rolling friction creates less resistance than sliding friction because very
little of its surface actually touches the other body at a time.
Sliding friction, however, is when 2 bodies rub directly against each other.
This was demonstrated in the rock example. The wheel and axle is a simple
machine because rolling friction is less tiring than sliding friction.
For a higher friction, at least one of the bodies has to be rough. To decrease
friction, we have to smoothen one or more of the bodies for less resistance. This is
why gravel has more resistance than ice.
Without friction, we would all be dead. It’s the reason our feet don’t slip and
slide on the ground, why airplanes fly (air resistance), why we can make
sculptures, etc. Friction is very important to us and the world around us, and we
should be grateful that such an important thing is here in this world.
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is that rolling friction resists the amount of distance and speed
much less than sliding friction. Sliding friction slows the speed and lowers the
distance more than rolling friction, in other words.
Variables:
Serial Num. Independent Variable Dependent Variable Controlled Variable
1 The addition of wheels The distance traveled The weight of the carts
2 X X The force applied each time
3 X X The material the carts are on
4 X X The measurement method
Materials:
Seri Material Quantity Units Justification
al
Num
ber
1 Measuring 1 cm It’s to measure the distance that the carts go.
tape
2 A cart with 1 X It’s one of the main things we are studying in the
wheels experiment.
3 A cart without 1 X It’s a main object in this experiment.
wheels
4 The floor 1 X The material that the carts go on, which has a
constant level of friction.
5 A pen 1 X A pen is used to write the raw data.
6 A notebook 1 X A notebook is used to record down the raw data.
Safety Measures:
1. If a cut is present, do NOT let it come in contact with the rust on the wheels.
2. As the carts are heavy, handle with care or else they might smash into one of
your body parts.
3. Do not use too much force, or else the cart’s trajectory will curve and might
crash into your fingers.
4. When using the tape measure, do not hold your fingers too close to the
opening, or else the tape will painfully crash into it.
Procedure:
1. Roll out the measuring tape on the floor.
2. Next to it, push the cart without wheels and measure the distance it went.
3. Next, push the cart with wheels with relatively the same amount of force as
the previous, then record the distance.
4. Repeat it 4 more times with varying levels of force.
5. Compile all the raw data into a table.
6. Present the Data.
7. Analyze and discuss the data.
8. Draw a conclusion while evaluating.
Raw Data (Kimaya’s Readings):
Number. Distance Covered <Cart with Wheels (cm)> Distance Covered <Cart without Wheels (cm)>
1 128 47
2 150 112
3 238 152
4 300 240
5 185 140
Processed Data:
Number. Distance Covered <Cart with Wheels (cm)> Distance Covered <Cart without Wheels (cm)>
1 128 47
2 150 112
3 238 152
4 300 240
5 185 140
6 Avg: 200.2 cm Avg: 138.2 cm
Calculation of Processed Data:
Avg of the Distance Covered <Cart with Wheels (cm)>: (128 + 150 + 238 + 300 +
185)/5 = 200.2 cm
Avg of the Distance Covered <Cart without Wheels (cm)>: (47 + 112 + 152 + 240
+ 140)/5 = 138.2 cm
Data Presentation:
Data Analysis and Discussion:
The graph above explains the difference in the averages of the distances of the
types of carts. I found the averages by adding all of the distances for each type
together and dividing them by how many there were (5 each). That’s how I found
that the average distance of the cart without wheels is 138.2 cm and the cart with
wheels is 200 cm. The only independent and dependent variables present in this
experiment are the addition of wheels and the distance traveled respectively. There
is a trend in the data which shows that the average distance traveled with wheels is
much higher than the distance traveled without wheels. The whole experiment
works to show this pattern. We did the experiment by releasing the carts with the
same forces and writing down the raw data.
Conclusion:
The result of the experiment was that rolling friction causes much less resistance
when an object is in motion compared to sliding friction. This lines up with my
hypothesis, which states that “My hypothesis is that rolling friction resists the
amount of distance and speed much less than sliding friction. Sliding friction slows
the speed and lowers the distance more than rolling friction, in other words.”
Similar results are found in common experiments that show the same concept
where objects with and without wheels roll down a ramp.
