Name and Title Name of Lab:

Student Name:

Instructor:

Date:

Objective

The purpose is to test whether the surface texture of the ground affects the distance an object can roll.

Hypothesis

If an object rolls over (type of material), then it will (describe the prediction of distance it will travel).

Materials

For this lab, I used the following items:
Steps, hard-cover books, blocks, or boxes to hold up the ramp
Wood, foam board, hard-cover notebook, cookie sheet, or other flat surface for ramp
Small ball (rubber, golf, tennis, etc.) or a can to roll down the ramp
Ruler or tape measure; or Print a Ruler
Towel, carpet, cotton fabric, sandpaper, or other materials to alter the surface texture of the ground

Procedure

Short summary of what I did:

I experienced the following errors while doing my experiment:

Test (independent) variable (What was different about my test groups?):

Outcome (dependent) variable (What was I measuring?):

Data

Record the distance traveled for each of the trials for the three floor surfaces in the table below.

Distance Object Traveled
Floor Surface Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Data Analysis

Calculate the average distance traveled for each floor surface. Use the following guidelines for calculating averages, and show your work.

Floor Covering Calculation of the Average Average Distance Traveled
Example (trial 1 measurement + trial 2 measurement + trial 3 measurement) / 3 (number of trials) Your answer from the calculation, showing the average distance the ball rolled for that floor covering.

Conclusion

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

Describe in your own words what friction is.
Describe how friction affected the results of your investigation.
Does an object travel farther on a smooth or slippery surface or on a rough surface? Why?
Propose another experiment that could be used to demonstrate that friction is a contact force.