The Inclined Plane

Introduction & Purpose

In today's experiment we are measuring the efficiency of an inclined plane at different angles.

Hypothesis

I believe that the lower the angle the more efficient the plane will be.

Materials

Wooden plank, Basket with test tubes, spring scale, Protractor, Meter stick, Textbooks (holding board up)

Procedure

Set up your plank with some books under it record the angle. Measure the weight of your basket. Measure the distance of your plank. Next you need to measure the height of the plank and pull the basket to the top of the plank at just enough force for it to move. Record your observations in the data table, repeat 3 times.

Observations

Discussion Questions

1. As the angle increases the force to pull it up also increases
2. The greater the angle the greater both actual and useful work
3. For there to be more or exactly 100% efficiency you would be incorrect because that would suggest there is no gravity
4. Because the slope becomes steeper and the gravity has an easier time pulling it back down as compared to 180 degrees
5. The Ff decreases when we raise the angle because as you raise the angle the force needed to pull the basket up increases due to gravity and the friction between the two surfaces decrease since the greater angle makes sort of an “ice” effect
6. The efficiency of the system increases according to my results which could potentially be incorrect
7. 99% because it is currently impossible to reach a state of no friction
8. You could add something to the road that makes it slippery or you can create less friction on the road or plank

Suggested Improvements

• Use a cleaner plank because the ones we used made it hard to get the exact force to pull the basket.
• Use more accurate Newton scales.
• Try more then four times.
• Use a piece of wood instead of a basket.

Future Investigations

• Do this experiment on cleaner wood.
• Add an oily substance to the wood.
• Try on different slopes of concrete.

Conclusion

In the end according to our results, the steeper the slope the more efficient the machine. I think we made a mistake somewhere, I think that the results should show us that the lesser the angle the more efficient the machine, some reason our efficiency's were very low. I think that the unclean or rough wood caused us to misjudge the reading on the Newton scales which ultimately caused me to make this mistake. This lab was simple and sweet though there is a few improvements that could be made to give us a proper outcome.