Stine 1

Hollis Stine
Mrs. Danielsson
Grade 8 Science, Period 7
February 27, 2015
Lab Conclusion
The purpose of this velocity and acceleration lab is to find out if the velocity and
acceleration of a ball can be determined. The main parts in this experiment are velocity and
acceleration. Velocity is speed in a given direction and the formula to find it is distance/time.
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes over a period of time and the formula to find it
is final velocity - initial velocity/time. It refers to increasing speed, decreasing speed and
changing direction. For example, velocity can be written as 25 meters/hour eastward.
Acceleration can be written as 25 meters/hour/hour without the direction. Slope is another
subject used in this direction. It is used for how steep the textbooks make the ramp. Slope is the
rise over the run. Rise is the vertical difference between any two points on a line, representing
the ramp. Run is the horizontal difference between the same two points, representing the
textbooks height at the top of the ramp. When there is a greater slope, which would be more
textbooks, there will be a greater gravitational pull towards the ball falling down the ramp.
When there is a smaller slope, which would be less textbooks, there will be less of a gravitational
pull towards the ball. If the height of the ramp increases than the velocity and acceleration of the
ball will increase because the gravitational pull is stronger and the slope is steeper.
The results confirm the hypothesis if the height of the ramp increases than the velocity
and acceleration of the ball will increase because the gravitational pull is stronger and the slope

Stine 2
is steeper. This experiment showed that as more textbooks were added to the height at the top of
the ramp, the velocity and acceleration of the ball increased. For example, when there were two
textbooks under the ramp, the velocity of the ball was 0.5 meters/second downward. Second,
when four textbooks were added under the ramp, the velocity of the ball was 0.7 meters/second
downward. The velocity increased 0.2 meters/second downward when four textbooks were used
instead of two. Another example is that the average time it took for the ball to reach one meter
was different between the two and four textbook heights. For two textbooks, the average time it
took the ball to reach the one meter mark was 2.007 seconds. The average time for four
textbooks was 1.5 seconds. The difference of 0.507 seconds shows that adding four textbooks the
the height of the ramp increases the velocity and acceleration and decreases the time, compared
to two textbooks.
An error that occurred was that timing the ball right when it crossed the line was off for a
couple of trials. There were a few times in which the trial had to be retested because the timing
of the ball was off. This could have affected the data because if the ball looked close enough to
crossing the line, that time was written down, while the ball could have crossed the line at a
different time by a second or two. What was learned in this lab can be applied to everyday
situations by figuring out around how fast it would take a skateboarder to reach the bottom of a
ramp, depending on the slope of the ramp. Also, predicting how fast a kid will slide down
different slides with different slopes. A better design for the next time of this experiment could be
having different size ramps using the same amount of textbooks to also test velocity and
acceleration of a ball rolling down them.