Weekly Blog 1/21/18 - Speed

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Summary

The formula for finding speed is distance/time. In other words, speed is simply how fast you are going. It is a scalar quantity meaning it only measures magnitude. An example of speed is 31 mph. Velocity, on the other hand, measures speed with direction. It is a vector quantity. Knowing the velocity of objects is very important. We use our knowledge of speed and direction in our everyday life like when you are in a car, turning and driving around the road when you are crossing the street, and more. To keep track of speed and velocity, you can represent them in a graph. You can do this with either a distance-time graph or a speed-time graph.

S&EP 3 - Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

I planned and carried out an investigation when I completed a lab testing out and comparing the speeds of three different cars on a ramp. I first had to identify the controlled variables on a worksheet such as the height of the ramp, material of the ramp, slope, and the length of the track. The variable being manipulated was the car since we took turns sending different cars down the ramp to test their speeds. Once we set up the ramp, I made my hypothesis. My hypothesis was that the green car would travel the fastest and take the least amount of time to get to the end since it was the heaviest. After testing and timing all of the cars and recording my data on a chart, I found that my hypothesis was correct.

XCC: Structure and Function

To record your data and represent motion, you can create a distance-time graph. The function for a distance-time graph would obviously be distance/time which will give you speed. These graphs help you see how long it took for an object to travel a certain distance. The structure of these graphs are the distance plotted on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. It is really important to get the structure of the graph down and the axis' marked and written correctly. For example, if you recorded speed on the y-axis instead of distance on the y-axis the function of the graph would completely change. Now, the graph tells you how fast an object is moving for how long. That would be a speed graph.