Works Cited:

Trang Nguyen

Relationship Between Angle of Inclination and Acceleration

29th November 2019

Research Question

What is the relationship between the angle of inclination of a ramp and the acceleration of the 250g PasCar cart travelling down
the ramp?

Background Information

The pull of gravity along the surface of the earth is constant directed straight down, with a magnitude of mg, where m is the
mass of the object being pulled and g is the standard acceleration due to gravity of 9.80665 m/s/s. Acceleration is a vector,
therefore g is an acceleration directly down to the center of the earth (Holzner). On an inclined plane, for example, a frictionless
ramp, the gravity vector is broken down into components parallel to the ramp and perpendicular to the ramp. The normal force
is the force perpendicular to the surface an object is on, which is why an object on a horizontal plane will not move unless there
is another force acting upon it, as the normal force is acting in the opposite direction compared to gravity (The Physics
Classroom Tutorial). The perpendicular component of gravity acting on the ramp is the direct opposite of the normal force and
balances it out, but there is no force acting in the opposite direction as the component of gravity parallel to the ramp, which is
why the object would accelerate downwards. The parallel component of gravity is the net force.

Variables

Independent Variable: The angle of inclination of the ramp will be manipulated in increments of 1˚ from 5˚ to 12˚.

Dependent Variable: The acceleration, or the change in velocity of the PasCar cart will be measured using the motion detector,
then calculated using LoggerPro.

Controlled Variables: The mass of the cart will be controlled at 253.65 g as the same cart will be used for all manipulations and
trials. The distance travelled by the cart down the ramp will be controlled at 180 cm by placing the end stopper at 20 cm and
restarting the carts’ starting position 200 cm for every manipulation and trial.

Hypothesis

If the angle of inclination of the ramp that the PasCar is travelling down increases, the acceleration of the cart will also increase.
The acceleration of the cart would be directly proportional to the sine of the angle of inclination. This is because the cart rolling
down the near frictionless ramp would be accelerated by the parallel component of gravity acting upon the ramp as there is
almost no force acting in the opposite direction; therefore, the steeper the ramp, the faster the object would accelerate as the
slope is closer to the direction of gravity. The angle of inclination (θ) is the same as the angle created between the direction of
the force of gravity and the direction of the perpendicular component of gravity acting upon the ramp.
Sin(θ)=opposite/hypotenuse, therefore the parallel component of gravity acting upon the ramp, which is opposite to the angle
created between the direction of the force of gravity and the direction of the perpendicular component of gravity would be
equal to sin(θ)*Fgravity=sin(θ)mg. As the mass and the pull of gravity stay constant, an increase in the angle of inclination of the
ramp would also increase the sine of the angle created between the direction of the force of gravity and the direction of the
perpendicular component of gravity acting upon the ramp, so the parallel component of gravity acting upon the ramp would
increase, resulting in a faster acceleration.
Equipment and Materials

- x1 PasCar cart
- x1 dynamic track
- x1 motion detector
- x1 end stop
- x1 electronic balance
- x1 angle indicator
- x1 track rod clamp
- x1 stand
- x1 lab coat/cushion

Method

1. Set up the equipment as shown in the diagram, with the end stopper placed at the 20 cm mark, the clamp and the
stand at the 200 cm mark and the motion detector at the 220 cm mark.
a. Slide the angle indicator onto the dynamic track
b. Slide the left knob of the track rod clamp onto the dynamic track and tighten it
c. Place a lab coat in front of the end stopper to prevent the cart from crashing into the stopper.
2. Use an electronic balance to measure the mass of the cart.
3. Connect the motion detector to a computer and open Logger Pro. Delete the position vs. time graph that will appear
above the velocity vs. time graph.
4. Loosen the right knob of the track rod clamp and adjust the height of the track along the clamp by sliding it upwards
or downwards until the string on the angle indicator is on the 5˚ mark.
5. Hold the end of the cart at the 200 cm mark next to the stand.
6. Start the motion detector by pressing the green play button on Logger Pro. Wait three seconds before releasing the
cart. Record three trials of the cart rolling down the ramp. If the three trials are consistent, Store Latest Run (ctrl+L).
7. Increase the angle of inclination of the ramp by 1˚ by adjusting the right knob of the track rod clamp.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 until the angle of inclination is 12˚.
a. The angle of inclination increases in increments of 1˚ in order to be able to change it precisely according to
the angle indicator and
b. Larger increments of change will make the acceleration too fast to be recorded precisely and consistently.

Safety Precautions: Heavy track may drop onto the feet of anyone within 15 cm of the set up if not tightened properly. Hold the
stand with one hand on the pole and the other on the base so that the base does not drop off and the pole doesn’t poke
anyone.
Data Collection

Table 1 – Acceleration (m/s/s) of the PasCar Cart with Different Angle Inclinations of the Ramp (˚)

acceleration of the cart / m/s/s

angle of the ramp / ˚ (± 0.0001 m/s/s)
(± 0.5˚)
trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 mean
5.0 0.8671 0.8796 0.8798 0.8755
6.0 1.0050 1.0130 1.0160 1.0113
7.0 1.1890 1.1450 1.1980 1.1773
8.0 1.3920 1.3650 1.3950 1.3840
9.0 1.7240 1.7000 1.7040 1.7093
10.0 1.9510 1.9320 1.9470 1.9433
11.0 2.0450 2.0010 2.0450 2.0303
12.0 2.3450 2.3180 2.3100 2.3243

Graph 1 – Sample Calculation of the Acceleration of the Cart for 5.0˚ Angle Inclination of the Ramp
Data Processing

Table 2 – Mean Acceleration (m/s/s) of the PasCar Cart with Different Angle Inclinations of the Ramp (˚)

angle of the ramp / ˚ mean acceleration of the cart / m/s/s

(± 0.5˚) (± 0.0001 m/s/s)
5.0 0.8755
6.0 1.0113
7.0 1.1773
8.0 1.3840
9.0 1.7093
10.0 1.9433
11.0 2.0303
12.0 2.3243

Graph 2 – Mean Acceleration (m/s/s) of the PasCar Cart with Different Angle Inclinations of the Ramp (˚)

2.5000
Mean Acceleration of the Cart (m/s/s)

f(x) = 0.21 x − 0.25

2.0000

1.5000

1.0000

0.5000

0.0000
4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0
Angle of the Ramp (˚)
Graph 3 – Mean Acceleration (m/s/s) of the PasCar Cart with the Sine of Different Angle Inclinations of the Ramp (˚)

2.5000
f(x) = 12.32 x − 0.26
Mean Acceleration of the Cart (m/s/s)

2.0000

1.5000

1.0000

0.5000

0.0000
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22
Sine of the Angle of the Ramp

Analysis

A linear trend can be seen in Graph 2 and 3, suggesting a directly proportional relationship between sine of the angle

of the ramp and the carts’ acceleration. It is directly proportional because as the sine of the angle of the ramp increases due to

the angle increasing, the mean acceleration of the cart also increases and the trendline, if extended, could pass through the

point of origin. This is because when the angle of inclination of the ramp is 0.0˚, there is no other force acting upon the cart

other than gravity pulling it down; therefore, the cart would not move and its acceleration would be 0 m/s/s. The sine of the

angle of the ramp can be seen in Graph 3 to be around 10 times smaller than it’s mean acceleration, as when the sine of 5˚ is

0.087, the acceleration is approximately 0.87 m/s/s. When the sine of 6˚ is around 0.104, the acceleration is approximately 1.00

m/s/s. This trend continues until 9˚, when its’ sine is around 0.156 and the acceleration is approximately 1.70 m/s/s, around 11

times larger than the sine of the angle. The same rule is applied to angles 10˚ to 12˚. This could suggest that either the first four

data points are anomalous, or the last four data points are anomalous; however, the difference in how much larger the

acceleration is compared to the sine of the angle doesn’t change drastically. Also, from Table 1, the three trials for all the

manipulations are quite consistent, which suggests that the data is reliable, and there could’ve been a flaw in the measurement

or the method. Graph 2 shows the trendline passing through the regions indicated by the error bars, further suggesting that the

data is not anomalous. The data is reliable as there is not much variation in the raw data for the acceleration for different

angles of inclinations, and all the trials and the mean in Table 1 show increases in acceleration in similar increments.
Works Cited:

Holzner, Steven. “Finding the Force of Gravity along an Inclined Plane - Dummies.” Dummies, 2016,

www.dummies.com/education/science/physics/finding-the-force-of-gravity-along-an-inclined-plane/. Accessed 7 Dec.

2019.

Holzner, Steven. “How Gravity Affects the Acceleration of an Object on an Inclined Plane - Dummies.” Dummies, 2016,

www.dummies.com/education/science/physics/how-gravity-affects-the-acceleration-of-an-object-on-an-inclined-plane/.

Accessed 7 Dec. 2019.

“The Physics Classroom Tutorial.” Physicsclassroom.Com, 2019, www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/vectors/u3l3e.cfm.

Accessed 3 Dec. 2019.