Lab: Motion Virtual Lab Active Step 5: Measure the Speed of the Toy Car on the Higher Track Drag the car to position it at the top of the track. Click or tap the car to start its motion. As the car passes each checkpoint, the stopwatch will record its time. Record all four times in seconds in Table D of your Student Guide. Tools 00.00 Stopwatch Toy car Intro 01.38 02.19 02.80 03.31 01.38 02.19 02.80 03.31 Continue
Lab: Motion Virtual Lab Active Step 5: Measure the Speed of the Toy Car on the Higher Track Drag the car to position it at the top of the track. Click or tap the car to start its motion. As the car passes each checkpoint, the stopwatch will record its time. Record all four times in seconds in Table D of your Student Guide. Tools 00.00 Stopwatch Toy car Intro 01.38 02.19 02.80 03.31 01.38 02.19 02.80 03.31 Continue
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer for Table D (Times in Seconds):
Checkpoint 1: 1.38 s
Checkpoint 2: 2.19 s
Checkpoint 3: 2.80 s
Checkpoint 4: 3.31 s
Explanation :
In this step of the Motion Virtual Lab, the objective is to measure the speed of a toy car on a higher track by recording the time it takes to pass four checkpoints. The recorded times are:
- 1.38 seconds at Checkpoint 1
- 2.19 seconds at Checkpoint 2
- 2.80 seconds at Checkpoint 3
- 3.31 seconds at Checkpoint 4
These times help analyze how the car’s speed changes as it moves down the ramp.
Because the track is inclined, the car accelerates due to gravity. This means its speed increases as it travels down the ramp. The checkpoints are spaced equally, so if the car were moving at a constant speed, the time intervals between checkpoints would also be equal. However, in this case, each time interval gets shorter:
- From Checkpoint 1 to 2: 2.19 s – 1.38 s = 0.81 s
- From Checkpoint 2 to 3: 2.80 s – 2.19 s = 0.61 s
- From Checkpoint 3 to 4: 3.31 s – 2.80 s = 0.51 s
This pattern shows that the car is speeding up, which is consistent with uniform acceleration on a slope. Gravity is the unbalanced force causing this acceleration. Since no friction or resistance is mentioned, it’s reasonable to assume the acceleration is nearly constant.
These measurements can be used to calculate average speed between checkpoints by dividing the distance by the time interval, and can further be used to analyze acceleration. Understanding how motion changes on an inclined plane is foundational in physics, and this lab provides a practical, visual example of those concepts.
This experiment illustrates key principles of kinematics, specifically how position, velocity, and acceleration are related during uniformly accelerated motion.
