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Lissy
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:16 am

Need help

Post by Lissy »

I help my son with the seismograph project, I have the information. How can I read this information? My son needs to create a graph. :?
I help my son with the seismograph experiment, Is there a whole lot of shaking going on? I have the information. How can I read this information? I need to create a graph. Thank you
ChrisG
Former Expert
Posts: 1019
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:43 am
Occupation: Research Hydrologist
Project Question: n/a
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Project Status: Not applicable

Post by ChrisG »

Hi Lissy,
Welcome to Science Buddies. Are you working on this project?
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... p017.shtml

I don't quite understand your question. What information do you have? The more detail you can provide, the more we will be able to help!

Chris
Lissy
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:16 am

Seismograph

Post by Lissy »

Hi Chris, we build the seismograph and we tested, we have the paper roll with the mark that the pencil did on the paper roll when the machine (seismograph) was receiving the movement of the car. My question is how can I do a graph with the informaiton that I have in the paper roll?
I help my son with the seismograph experiment, Is there a whole lot of shaking going on? I have the information. How can I read this information? I need to create a graph. Thank you
geoffbruton
Former Expert
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:02 am

Post by geoffbruton »

Hi Lissy,

I don't know what the requirements are for the graph you are meant to produce, but I would think that you could do a great job with the roll of paper itself!

Basically, this would require marking off on the roll when there are zero vibrations (your baseline) and marking the effects of a specific disturbance that you create, from start to finish. The paper roll will chart (or "graph") what the machine detects.

Your experimental stage could consist of dropping objects (preferably non-breakable!) of successively-increasing mass. You could then check your chart and see if there is a correlation between the larger the peak height and the heavier the weight. Does that make sense?

If the requirements specifically state for a *graph*, one option might be to try plotting the relative peak height against the weight dropped.

These are just a couple of thoughts, so please be sure to post back if you have any more questions.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Geoff.
Geoff Bruton
Firearm & Toolmark Section
Ventura County Sheriff's Department
Forensic Sciences Laboratory
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