Inclined Planes-The World's New Best Friend

        It's only September and we've already finished another lab! I feel accomplished. This lab really helped demonstrate how different constant velocity and constant acceleration are. It really helped to not only read about this concept, but also see it in front of you as well. It definitely makes this concept more understandable and it gave everyone an excuse to write on the desks without getting in trouble!
        Based on what has already been explained in class and what was just demonstrated toady in the lab, constant velocity is when an object is going the same distance, speed and direction in a given period of time. In other words these three factors are constant throughout the duration of the movement. This is where it gets tricky. It generally seems like constant acceleration and velocity would be the same thing, but they aren't. In constant acceleration, an object is speeding up or slowing down at a uniform speed in a given amount of time, but is NOT going the same speed throughout the duration of it's movement. These are two concepts that can easily be confused, but they couldn't be any different from each other.
       There was a lot that had to go into this lab for it to work. First, we had to mark a starting point for a marble to roll down a flat table. Then, we used a metronome to mark each half second so we could tally off time. From there, we released the ball, and for every half-second, marked the place where it was with a piece of chalk. Once this step was completed, we recorded the data in a table and made a graph out of it. Because the marble was rolling down a straight, flat surface, it exhibited constant velocity. It didn't speed up or slow down, but exhibited uniformity throughout the given time. Then, we propped up two legs of the table to create an inclined plane. From their, we implemented the same format as before, but got different results. As the ball rolled farther and the time got longer, the dashes got farther apart. When we plugged this information into the chart and then graphed it, it was obvious that the data was not going at a constant speed, rather, a constant acceleration. The data showed that the distance had a constant interval of increase for each second that was ticked off. Thus, this demonstrated the difference between constant acceleration and constant velocity.
        The formulas that were important during this lab were velocity=distance/time and distance=1/2(acceleration)(time squared). Transitioning, this lab helped demonstrate how important it is to use the right equations. Also, I learned that different equations such as these two can be plugged into the equation for a straight line (y=mx+b). Finally, I learned how important it is to listen to directions. It's easy to get confused when going through the procedure, but then data is incorrect and you have to go through the hassle of doing everything over again. It's much easier to do it right the first time!