The task of this lab was to predict when a ball rolling down the ramp would hit a car moving along the bottom of the ramp.
In order to successfully time the collision of the ball to hit the car I had to measure the velocity and of the ball and the car. First, the velocity of the ball had to be calculated so that when it was released it would hit at the exact time that the car was passing the bottom of the ramp. Secondly, the amount of time it would take for the car to reach the bottom of the ramp would need to correspond with when the ball was released from the top of the ramp.
Calculations:
Our first attempt was a fail. The ball missed the mark by about four inches. What lead to us succeeding was realizing that we had to release the ball when the tape on the ground was lined up where we wanted it to hit on the car. As you can see in the video above, the ball was released when the tape was lined up with the middle of the car. Therefore, the ball hit the middle of the car. This shows that I am proficient in calculating constant velocity because me. and my group, were able to calculate the exact time it would take the ball to roll down the ramp, and the time that would be needed for the car to reach the end of the ramp the same time that the ball did. This is the same reason that I am proficient in calculating and representing constant acceleration.
Physics 