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Lab 4 - Graphing Motion of A Car

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11 views5 pages

Lab 4 - Graphing Motion of A Car

Uploaded by

jlok903
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Driving a Car (Computer Lab)

(This lab was designed by Elissa Levy at Life Sciences Secondary School, Manhattan, NY)

I can… create and analyze graphs for displacement and velocity of a moving car.
Vocabulary: acceleration, velocity, velocity-time graph slope, displacement

DO NOW
Do you plan to get your driver’s license when you turn 17? Why or why not?
I plan to get my driver's license when I turn 17 since I wanna get to places more faster than just walking and
so I can go to places that are more further away from New York like to Pennsylvania but also I can take my
friends with me to go to places.

Discussion
Think about riding in a car or bus when it’s speeding up. Which way do you feel pushed? Why?
I feel pushed backwards into the seat when inside a car when it's speeding up. This is due to the body’s
sense of inertia, which will make you point in the opposite direction of acceleration.

Think about riding in a car or bus when it’s slowing down. Which way do you feel pushed? Why?
I feel pushed forward when inside a car when it's slowing down. This is also due to our body’s inertia, which
will remain in motion until acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Your lab
Google “physics aviary graphing of motion” or click the hyperlink.
Choose “desktop” (if you prefer to hold the gas pedal and/or the brake pedal to control the car) or “touch” if
you prefer to touch and release the gas pedal or the brake pedal to activate and touch and release the pedal
again to deactivate).

Hit “start,” and use the gas and brake pedals to speed up and slow down the car to practice.

Understanding your velocity-time graph


Hit “reset.” Start with any acceleration and braking, and initial speed of a The shape of my graph is
cheetah. Just watch. What shape is your graph? just a straight horizontal
line.
What is the velocity of your car? Is it constant? The velocity of my car is
37 m/s and it is constant.
How much time is represented on the x-axis of your graph? 30 seconds
Braking system (slowing down)
Hit “reset.” Start with the acceleration at Porche-like, the braking at Porche- 7 seconds
like, and the initial speed of a cheetah. Hold the brake. In how much time
does the car stop?
Set the braking rate to Jeep-like, and keep the initial speed of a cheetah. How 16 seconds
much time does it take the car to come to a stop?
Looking at the velocity-time graph, is the slope POSITIVE or NEGATIVE while The slope us negative
braking? while braking
For which car does the graph have a steeper slope? The Porsche
Which car has the better braking system, a Porche or a Jeep? The Porsche

Acceleration system (speeding up)


Start with the acceleration at Porche-like, the braking at Porche-like, and initial 8 seconds
speed at rest (not moving). Hold the gas pedal down. How much time does it
take to reach 40 m/s?
Set the acceleration to Honda-like, and keep the initial speed at rest. How much 13 seconds
time does it take the car to reach 40 m/s?
Looking at the velocity-time graph, is the slope POSITIVE or NEGATIVE while The slope is positive
accelerating? while accelerating.
For which car does the graph have a steeper slope? The Porsche
Which car has the better acceleration system, a Porche or a Honda? The Porsche

Constant velocity
Now, choose an initial speed that you want to start with. Write your choice deer
here:
Start the simulation, and DON’T use the gas or brake. What shape is the It is horizontal and is a
graph? straight line at 10 m/s.
How far does the car go in the first 5 seconds? 10 m/s
How far does the car go in the first 10 seconds? 20 m/s
Write an expression that will tell you the total displacement of the car (how far it goes) for any time t?

D = (Vi) (t) + (1/2a) (t^2)


Looking at the displacement-time graph
Click once on “velocity” in blue on the graph. Now what graph do you see? Position (m)
Make the car move at a constant velocity. What is the shape of the position The shape of the position
graph? graph is a line with a slope
of 10 m/s.
Hold down the acceleration pedal. What is the shape of the position graph? The shape of the position
graph is a slightly curved
positive slope.
Hold down the brake. What is the shape of the position graph? The shape of the position
graph is the line is slightly
curved up at a constant of
20 m position for the rest of
the time.

Extension…
Create a journey for the car where it travels EXACTLY 500 meters before it stops. Copy and paste the velocity-
time graph below. Explain what’s happening in each section (where does the graph show you’re speeding up,
slowing down, moving at constant velocity, etc.
Copy and paste here

Explain here:
After 1 second, the car’s velocity accelerates to 10 m/s and remains constant for the next 17 seconds and
begins to decelerate back down to its starting point, 10m/s, at the 20 second mark where it remains
constant for 3 seconds. After this, the car continues to decelerate down to 5 m/s and remains constant for
another second until it reaches the 30 second mark.

Exit ticket
Describe (or sketch) the velocity-time graph for a car that is speeding up.
The velocity time graph for a car that is speeding up is when the line is getting further away from the x axis
which means it goes up. The slope will be positive and if steep the velocity goes speeding up.

Describe (or sketch) the velocity-time graph for a car that is slowing down.
The velocity time graph for a car that is slowing down if the line is moving downward towards the x axis
which shows that the speed is going from high speed to low speed.

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