Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How does the height of a ramp affect the speed of an object? My science fair project will be timing coke cans as they roll down a ramp. I will be raising the ramp several times and I will time the speed of the can each time to see how the speed changes. Thank You! annabarnes

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure if you had a question, but I thought I'd provide some answers .... Use your search engine to find out more about Galileo's experiments with falling bodies. One trick he used was to put strips horizontally across the ramp at consistent intervals. As the rolling object rolls over the strip, it makes a sound. You can record this with a video or audio recorder, and on playback time the "clicks" between strips. This is a great way to get data on how fast the object is moving, and it even dates back to Galileo!

Keith

Thank you for the Galileo suggestion! I have had a hard time finding research material to form a hypothesis, so I will definitely look him up. Do you have any other suggestions for my research? I have googled acceleration, height + speed of an object, and ramp + speed of an object but keep turning up empty . Thank you, annabarnes Oh, am I allowed to include a video or audio recording as part of my research project?

You should check with your teacher if including a video or audio recording as part of your research is acceptable.

Audrey