I chose the question about how did the type of surface
affect the momentum of the marble? I used three surfaces; kitchen linoleum,
living room wooden planks, and bedroom carpet. I marked a spot on a car ramp to
ensure that the marble was dropped from the same spot every time.
The results I got were in line with what I had expected. I
felt that the smoother the surface the further the marble would travel. So the
smooth linoleum allowed the marble to travel the furthest, then the wooden
floor, and then the carpet. This is what I expected because of what I know
about friction and how it affects movement.
The only real challenge that occurred during the experiment
was that the marble occasionally did not roll straight, or it got caught in a
crack of the wooden planking, or in the kitchen it ran into an obstacle before
stopping. I would just repeat the reading until there was not an error in the
results.
To get modified results you could increase the height of the
ramp or the mass of the marble. Both of these would increase the amount of
potential energy of the object and thus increase the momentum.
The experiment could easily be replicated in the classroom.
It would be more interesting for the students to allow them to use toy cars.
Students would also be able to use different cars and see which car has more
momentum. This would then lead into discussion, or investigation on how each
car is different. For example, mass, streamline, wheel size, etc.
If I were to do this in the classroom I would like students
to learn the relationship between mass, or potential energy, and momentum, or
kinetic energy.
