Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, My son completed the experiment "Popping an Ollie: How Skateboarders + Physics = A Really Cool Trick. He really enjoyed it and I think it is a great experiment. I am confused and I just want to verify something. In Number 7 in the Testing section it says "Divide the distance that the person rode to the first mark by the time that it took to get there (the time from the stopwatch.) This is the speed the skateboarder was going when he or she popped the ollie. Ok....Please tell me if I am correct. The distance rode would be 5 m for the second two tests (medium speed and as fast as possible ) and O for the first test since it started from a standing position...Is that correct? So it would be 5 divided by 1.4 (the speed in seconds from the test) = 3.57. This would be on the x axis on the graph. But I am confused about what to label it (that is if it is not wrong). 3.57 meters per second? I am just not sure if I am dividing the correct numbers. Thank you!!! cmj

It seems you are doing this correctly. If your test subject traveled the 5m in 1.4 sec, then the speed would be 3.57 meters per second. That is what you should plot on the x axis.

hi. i am doing a science research paper regarding your experiment. the problem is that i can't do the experiment because i don't know anyone who knows how to skateboard. is it possible if you can reply to me with the observations of the ollie?

Hi, my son wants to do this science experiment? Can you tell me if the main question to investigate is if speed really does affect distance and speed? I was trying to get ideas on line, example reports, etc. but can't find any. Can you help me out in getting started? Bullet points to concentrate on?

Hi MRosquete,

I’m assuming that you’re working on the project described here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p055.shtml

I think you are on the right track about the main question investigated in this project. The idea is to observe the effect of speed on the height and distance of the skateboard rider.

My suggestion on getting started is to carefully read through the procedure and try to resolve any questions you may have. Then try some practice runs to get familiar with making the height and distance measurements as described in the procedure. Let us know if you have any questions along the way.

I hope this helps and good luck with your project.

A. Norman