Science

Proficiency 1

Experiment with and explain how Newton’s Laws of Motion apply to the physical world.

External Variables are the way I measure the balls bounce and where I drop the ball from.

I eliminated external variables by taping the yard stick to the wall to make it easier to measure the height of the balls bounce and I will also have someone help me get the measurement of the bounce.  Another way was that I will drop the ball at the top of the yardstick so that it is dropped at the exact same height each time. I will also make sure that the yardstick is touching the ground so the measuring is more exact.

Problem- How will the type of ball affect its bounce?

Hypothesis- I think the heavier the ball the lower the bounce because when there is more weight you need to push the ball down harder to get it to go up further, but with the lighter ball you will need less force for it to go higher. When I bounce a basketball I must push it down harder to get it to bounce back up the same height as volleyball, but I don't have to push it down as hard.

Experiment-

Materials

·         Small bouncy ball

·         Large bouncy ball

·         Ping Pong ball

·         Golf Ball

·         Measurer Person

·         Dropper

·         Yardstick

Procedure

1.       Gather Materials

2.       Tape the yard stick on the wall and make sure it is touching the ground.

3.       Place the bouncy ball in your hand

4.       Hold your hand out at the top of the yardstick

5.       Have an extra person help you get the measurement

6.       Let go of the bouncy ball

7.       Mark wear the bouncy ball went up to with your hand

8.       Read the measurement

9.       Record data on a data table

10.   Repeat steps 2 through 9, 5 more times

11.   Repeat steps 2 through 10 with the ping pong ball

12.   Repeat steps 2 through 10 with a golf ball

13.   Make a graph with the data you collected

14.   Conclude

15.   Clean Up

Variables-

IV- type of ball

DV- the height the ball bounces

CV- person dropping, what you are measuring with, the height you drop the ball from,

Control-None

Observations-

How the type of ball will affect its bounce?
	Trial 1	Trial 2	Trial 3	Trial 4	Trial 5	Trial 6	Average
Golf Ball	27	28	28	28.5	27	27.5	27.66667
Large Bouncy Ball	26	25	23	24.5	23	25.5	24.5
Small Bouncy Ball	30	29	29	30	29.5	29	29.41667
Ping Pong Ball	25	27	24	24.5	26	26	25.41667
***All numbers represented in Inches***

Conclusion-

My problem was how the type of ball will affect the bounce. My hypothesis stated the heavier the ball the lower the bounce because when there is more weight you need to push the ball down harder to get it to go up further, but with the lighter ball you will need less force for it to go higher. My hypothesis was supported because the heaviest of the balls was the large bouncy ball which went up the least. The ball went up to 26, 25, 23, 24.5, 23, 25.5, with an average of 24.5 inches.  The highest bouncing ball was the small bouncy ball, because it was the lightest. The small bouncy ball bounced up to 30, 29, 29, 30, 29.5, 29, with an average with about a little less than 29.5 inches. The difference between the two bouncy balls when they were dropped is that more air was under the larger one, so that it was slowed down and didn't have as much momentum as the small bouncy ball. The other two types of balls that I used were the golf ball and the ping pong ball. The golf ball bounced up to 27, 28, 28, 28.5, 27, 27.5 and an average of 27.6 repeating inches. The ping pong ball went up to 25, 27, 24, 24.5, 26, 26 and an average of about 25.4 inches. To complete this experiment I first had to collect a yard stick, a ping pong ball, a small bouncy ball, a large bouncy ball, and a golf ball. Then you will need to tape the yard stick to the wall. After that is complete you need to choose what ball you want to experiment with first.  You then need to place the ball into your hand and hold it above the top of the yardstick; drop the ball and make sure you are at eye level. Eye ball about where the ball hit its peak and record. This experiment relates to Newton's laws because when holding the ball and then dropping it you create an unbalanced force that goes with Newton's first law. Newton's second law is in my experiment because when the ball is going down towards the ground faster, it will bounce back up higher. The third law is also in my experiment; when the ball falls towards the ground you get the action and then when it comes back up you will get the reaction.

Explain how Newton's Laws apply to the physical world.

Newton's Laws are in all around us; in our lives every day. The first law, an object will remain at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion until an unbalanced force acts upon it. When in a car crash this law is shown, as a car is driving and all of a sudden another car comes at it. Then smack both cars collide, slowing down and then eventually stopping.  Both of these cars are moving and then they all of sudden stop without notice. This also relates to my experiment because the ball is in your hand so it is not moving, then you let it go making an unbalanced force. The second law, shows a relationship between force and acceleration, the greater the force the greater the acceleration. When spiking a ball in volleyball. The harder you hit the ball, the faster and harder the ball will hit the ground. In my experiment when the ball falls down to the ground faster it will bounce up higher. The third law, for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction or if an opposite and equal reaction or if an object exerts a force on another object, then the second object exerts force of equal strength in the opposite direction.  An example is a rocket taking off; first the rocket will push off the ground resulting in it going up into the atmosphere. It pushes down for the action and then goes up for the reaction. From my experiment you get Newton's third law because when the ball is coming towards the ground it is going down and then once it hits the ground it is going up. You will get the action and then the reaction. Those were some examples of how Newton's laws apply to the physical world.

Proficiency 2

Experiment with and explain how friction and gravity apply to Newton’s Laws of Motion.

I eliminated external variables by having a person to help time. I also made sure that all the different surfaces were pushed down firmly. I used the wall to help tell when to stop the timer because when the ball hit the wall I would stop the timer.

Problem- How will the type of surface affect the time of the ball that goes down a slope?

Hypothesis- I think that the construction paper will give the ball the fastest time because it has the smoothest surface, which will let the ball get its momentum up quicker. When there are more bumps and deeper ones the ball will be slowed down. Paper doesn't have any bumps. 

Experiment-

Materials-

Steel wool for friction

Paper for friction

Wood for friction

Wood for ramp

Small bouncy ball

An extra person to time

Timer

Lined paper

Tape

Procedure-

1.       Gather Materials

2.       Make ramp

3.       Mark the ending

4.       Place the ramp so that it is 48 inches away from the end line

5.       Put a piece of lined paper on the ramp

6.       Hold the bouncy ball at the top of the ramp

7.       Have a person with a timer stand at the finish line

8.       Let go of the ball and at the same time start the timer (don't push the ball)

9.       Record data

10.   Repeat steps 5 through 8 two more times

11.   Repeat steps 5 through 9, 6 times but with  sand on the ramp

12.   Repeat steps 5 through 9, 6 times but with Fabric on the ramp

13.   Make a graph

14.   Conclude

15.   Clean Up

Variables-

CV- same ball, same angle on the slope, same person timing, same dropper

IV- surface type

DV- the time of the ball passing the finish line

Control- the time of the ball going down the slope with nothing on it

Observations-

How the Different Types of Surfaces will Affect the Time the Ball Travels
	trial 1	trial 2	trial 3	trial 4	trial 5	trial 6	average
Wood	1.21	1.12	1.6	1.12	1.27	1.13	1.241667
Paper	1.54	1.31	1.69	1.32	1.71	1.42	1.498333
Steel wool	1.45	1.46	1.91	2.13	1.66	1.92	1.755
***All numbers are in Seconds***

Conclusion- My problem was how the type of surface will affect a ball as it goes down a ramp. In my hypothesis I stated that I thought that the paper will give the ball the fastest time because it has the smoothest surface, which will let the ball get its momentum up quicker. My hypothesis was not supported because the wood let the bouncy ball move the quickest.  The times for the wood were 1.21, 1.12, 1.6, 1.12, 1.27, and 1.13, with an average of about 1.3 seconds. The paper allowed the bouncy ball to travel only a little bit slower with times of 1.54, 1.31, 1.69, 1.32, 1.71, 1.42, and an average of about 1.5 seconds. The surface that slowed the ball down the most was the wool, most likely because of the grooves and bumps the ball had to travel over, which created more friction under the ball. The times for the wool were 1.45, 1.46, 1.91, 2.13, 1.66, 1.92 and an average of about 1.76 seconds. I believe the reason for my data was because the wood surface was the smoothest and that the ball got stuck on the folded paper, which gave the ball a chance to slow down. To complete this experiment, first I had to collect all my materials. Then I had to make a ramp and I placed my first surface down. After that I would place the ball at the top of the ramp while I had someone time it. Newton's first law is an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion until an unbalanced force acts upon it.

 Newton's second law shows the relationship between force and acceleration; the greater the force, the greater the acceleration. The gravity is the ball going down the slope.  The friction is a force that will slow the ball down, but it depends on how many bumps there are to slow the ball down.  The bumps will make the unbalanced force. The gravity is the force that pulls the ball down the slope.

Explain how friction and gravity apply to Newton's Laws of Motion

Both friction and gravity are forces so any law that applies to force they will fit into. Friction is applied to Newton's first law because a object in motion will remain in motion until an unbalanced force acts upon it. Friction can be bumpy and when there are bumps, they will slow the moving object down more and more. The bump is the unbalanced force. Gravity also applies to Newton's first law, because when an object is falling eventually the gravity will begin to slow it down and eventually stop it in motion. The ground and the air are both the unbalanced force. Newton's second law shows the relationship between force and acceleration; the greater the force, the greater the acceleration. This law applies to a ball going down a ramp. The surface is the friction and the gravity is the ball going down a ramp. When you time the ball going down ramp with different surfaces you will see how the friction affects the balls speed and how the gravity affects the ball. The larger the slant on the slope will lead to more gravity pulling the ball quicker down the slope. The gravity will be the force so the greater the gravity; the greater the acceleration. Newton's third law is for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction or if an opposite and equal reaction or if an object exerts a force on another object, then the second object exerts force of equal strength in the opposite direction.  The third law applies to friction and gravity in the theory of the rocket. If there is enough force from the fuel ignites, it will push the gasses downward at a huge speed. The rocket then moves up or accelerates in relationship to the gasses. The force from the fuel is an opposite reaction.

Proficiency 3

Experiment with and explain the relationship between speed and acceleration.

I eliminated external variables by having extra people help time. I also made sure that each time I collected made sense in order, if it didn't I would redo that trial. My final way that I eliminated external variable was making sure that I marked each section wide enough to make timing easier.

Problem- How does the distance a car that is pulled back affect the speed and acceleration?

Hypothesis- I believe the further you pull back the car the faster the acceleration and speed, because when the car is pulled back further, it gives the car more momentum to go faster and get up to its speed quicker.

Experiment-

Materials

Pull back car

3helpers

3timers

Tape

Procedure

1.       Gather Materials

2.       Mark 3 lines 24 inches apart from each other

3.       Have 1 timer stand at each line starting with the 2nd line

4.       Pull back the car 3 inches

5.       Let go of the car and have the timers start their timer at the same time

6.       As the car passes each line have the timer hit stop

7.       Right down each time in order

8.       Repeat steps 4 through 9 two more times

9.       Record data

10.   Do steps 4 through 11 three times but pull back the car 6 inches

11.   Do steps 4 through 11 three times but pull back the car 9 inches

12.   Do steps 4 through 11 three times but pull back the car 12 inches

13.   Calculate the acceleration of the car

14.   Calculate the speed of the car

15.   Make a graph

16.   Conclude

17.   Clean Up

Variables

IV- the amount of times the car is wound up

DV- the speed and acceleration

CV- timer, distance, amount of timers, same timers, same car

Control- the distance between each section keeps the data comparable

Observations-

	Start & 1	1&2	2&3
3 inches	23.38598	24.55015	-5.92132
6 inches	30.36679	105.9666	-92.5219
9 inches	58.45807	72.81398	-26.1579
12 inches	45.45367	66.22759	-71.5488

	1	2	3
3 inches	23.53542	58.69464	46.47343
6 inches	26.16752	60.51282	47.41633
9 inches	28.15663	51.9403	50.59094
12 inches	26.86017	146.226	30.70393

Conclusion-

My problem was how the distance a car, that is pulled back affect the speed and acceleration? My hypothesis stated that the further you pull back the car the faster the acceleration and speed, because when the car is pulled back further, it gives the car more momentum to go faster and get up to its speed quicker. It was not supported because the farthest I pulled back the car was 12 inches and the acceleration slowed down from 9 inches, because when the car got up to fast it didn’t go as straight. It was out of control at times. The acceleration from the start to the 1st marking which is 24 inches apart. The car that was pulled back 3 inches accelerated 23.38598 inches/second/second and then the 6 inch pull back accelerated to 30.36679 inches/second/second. The car that was pulled back 9 inches accelerated to 58.45807 inches/second/second. The final pull back of 12 inches accelerated to only 45.45367 inches/second/second. As you can see from this information the car accelerated quicker each time until the last trial where the car was more out of control. The next acceleration that was calculated was between the first marking and the second marking. For the pull back of 3 inches there was very little change in acceleration but for the pull back of six inches there was a very significant change, which could have been a slow stop of the stopwatch. Although you can still see that the acceleration increased from each pull back. The pull back of 9 inches accelerated to 72.81398 inches/second/second. The final pull back of 12 inches accelerated to 66.22759 inches/second/second, which shows you that the car was slower from being more out of control than the pull back of 9 inches. My final section was between the 2nd marking and the third, which has the deceleration of the cars. For the pull back of 3 inches the deceleration was very little at -5.92132 inches/second/second and the 6 inch pull back was a very large deceleration at -92.5219 inches/second/second. The reason the deceleration was greater, because the acceleration was greater. The 9 inch pull back was -26.1579 inches/second/second. The 12 inch pull back decelerated to -71.5488 inches/second/second. The speed of the pull back car increased for the first two times, then is decreased the second time. The average times for each for section 1, the 3 inch pull back had an average speed of 23.53542 inches/second and the 6 inch pull back had an average speed of 26.16752 inches/second. For the 9 inch pull back there was an average speed of 28.15663 inches/second. The 12 inch pull back had an average speed of 26.86017 inches/second which went down from the other. The second section had average times of 58.69464 inches/second, 60.51282 inches/second, 51.9403 inches/second, and 146.226 inches/second. These times were in order from 3 inches to 12 inches and 4 inches apart. In the final section all of the numbers decreased showing the deceleration in speed. This section had average times of 46.47343 inches/second, 47.41633 inches/second, 50.59094 inches/second, and 30.70393 inches/second. The times are in order from 3 inches to 12 inches pull back and were 4 inches apart. To complete this experiment I first had to mark 3 24inch segments. Then I had to pull back my car 3 inches and once I let go of the car, the timers were started and as the car went past each segment a timer was stopped. I repeated this step 2 more times with the 3 inches. Then I did it 3 times each for 6, 9, and 12 inches. The more momentum a car gets the faster it will accelerate. This is just like pushing the gas pedal on a car the harder you push it down the quicker you will go and the quicker you will get up to speed, but when you get to fast you will lose control of the steering wheel. During the experiment I attempted to pull the car back 18 inches and then let it go, but before the car got to the finish line it went out of control.

Explain the relationship between speed and acceleration.

Acceleration has speed in side of it so speed and acceleration relate to each other. Speed is how fast you are going and acceleration is how fast you get up to a speed.  When you are driving a car and push down on the pedal to accelerate to a different speed. The harder you push down the pedal the faster you will get up to the speed and the faster you will go. In my experiment I found out how the distance a car that is pulled back will affect the speed and acceleration. From this experiment I found out the relationship between speed and acceleration; the speed a car is going will affect the rate of acceleration according to my conclusion above. When the speed is faster the acceleration is faster, then when the cars speed decelerates the acceleration will become negative.

Proficiency 4

Experiment with and explain how simple machines utilize mechanical advantage to transfer energy. 

With Cara, Macauley and Beth, I made a Rube Goldberg. This transfers energy in a variety of ways. First we used a fixed pulley that has a mechanical advantage of one. Then we drop a large marble into cup that is attached to the string that is on the pulley. The cup with the ball in it goes down and hits the dominoes, which is a lever. The dominoes transfer kinetic energy from one to another, to keep hitting each other.  After the dominoes fall they hit a small weight that is tied to a string that was tied around a pole as a set up for the Rube Goldberg. This will make a screw and after it is knocked off the inclined plane the weight will gradually unwrap itself on its way down the pole and hit a marble that is sitting on a square above another incline plane. The weight hitting the marble will create more kinetic energy. After the marble makes its way on the incline plane it will reach a steeper incline plain that it will go down and fall into a car or bouncing at the car, creating potential energy, which then transfers the energy to the car, and the car will begin to move. It will then make its way underneath the ring. The car was sitting on a wedge so the car would move quicker once it was hit, and the car was the wheel and axel. That is what happens in our Rube Goldberg.

Proficiency 5

Effectively explain how alternate forms of energy can be utilized to influence the United States energy needs.

Wind Energy

 Wind energy is a major contributor to the United States energy. Instead of Fossil Fuel Power Plants, we have a nonpolluting solution of wind turbines. In the United States, wind turbines gather the energy from the wind and send the power out. Wind turbines give us a renewable energy that is cheap. The cause of the wind is from the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun.

The Wind turbine can be installed near a house which makes me believe that, as long as there is wind, all houses can reduce their electricity bills. This would require a large investment in the beginning but would pay off in the long run. There are conditions that you must have in order to have a stand-alone system, such as annual wind speeds of 9 miles per hour. The condition for a grid-connection system is that you must have an annual wind speed of 10 miles per hour. You also would want a high utility in your area, from 10 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour. The local building codes must allow you to legally put up a wind turbine on your property. This can be a long term investment so make sure you feel comfortable with it. This is the lowest cost renewable energy resource. A wind turbine will usually lower your utility bill by 50% to 90%, making your bill only $8 to $15 for nine months a year.  This will also be affected by your wind speed and the amount of electricity you use. An average home would need from 5 to 15 kilowatts to make a difference.

In Wisconsin, the idea of wind turbines is still growing. Some people just don’t know much about them.  There are many economic impacts. This will help the economy of a small community by providing jobs and tax payments to counties and local communities, including schools and they will also pay landowners. The manufacturing of the parts for the wind turbines has employed 60 workers in Wisconsin.  The wind power can increase the property value of windy land. The wind power will help save the energy dollars in Wisconsin, since we don’t produce coal, oil, natural gas, or uranium. Without any of these resources Wisconsin must import over $6 billion worth of fossil fuels each year.  About 15 percent of the electricity we use is imported.  When we keep more money in the state, it will make more economic activity. Farms are the most common places for wind turbines, since they have so much land, but the wind turbine will only take up about a quarter of an acre. Farmers are the largest marketer for small turbines, which will generate enough power for a farm, a home, or a business. People in Wisconsin can generate their own power by using a turbine as small as 400 watts or as large as 20 kilowatts. If they end up producing more energy than they need, they can sell it to their local utility, using a procedure called “net metering.”

A wind turbine is very similar to the propellers on an airplane. It turns in the moving air and powers an electric generator that supplies an electric current. The wind turbine is the exact opposite of a fan. The fan takes energy and makes wind, while the wind turbine takes the wind to make the energy. A wind turbine takes the wind, which turns the blades, and then spins a shaft. It is connected to a generator that makes electricity.

There are two types of modern turbines; there is one that is more common than the other. There is the horizontal axis wind turbine which is a traditional farm windmill that pumps water. Another type is the vertical axis, which is similar to an egg beater. The most common is the horizontal axis wind turbine. Most of the commercial wind turbines use the horizontal axis. A wind turbine has 3 blades.

 The cost of wind turbine plants has decreased in the last ten years. The best thing is that the cost of the plant won't change daily. Since 80% of the cost of wind turbines is the machinery, which is the initial site preparation of the land and installation, the overall annual cost is minimal.

Wind turbines in the United States are available in large quantities. Wind resources are characterized by wind-power density. The classes are 1, as the lowest and 7, as the highest.  Class 3 and above have an annual wind speed of 13 mph or higher. The wind speed is very important to our wind resources, which means the higher the wind speed, the more energy we get.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to wind energy. One advantage is that wind energy is a free renewable resource, so we can get free energy and we will never run out. This is also a clean and non polluting form of energy and it doesn't let out any air pollutants or green house gasses. There are also no fossil fuels burnt to generate electricity; instead the wind spins the turbine. Another great reason for having wind turbines to make electricity is because they take up less space, due to the smaller bases that takes up only a few square meters. Combining wind energy and solar electricity, makes it an easy electricity supply for developed or developing countries.  A disadvantage is the noise of that the rotor blades make, but that is easy to fix by just changing the locations you put the plants. Another disadvantage is the birds and bats being killed by flying into the rotor blades. That is just a positioning problem that can be fixed easily. I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and, in the long run, the wind turbine will make the air we breathe much cleaner.

Bibliography

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