Tow Truck
When a tow truck is pulling a car up a hill, how hard does the tow truck have to pull on the car? Does the steepness of the hill matter?
Materials
Build an inclined plane system with a cart attached to a force scale on a slope. The picture shows a possible design. The arrow in the picture shows the direction of the force of the scale (the tow truck) pulling on the cart -- the force that the scale measures.
1. Explore your system. You can raise and lower the top of the ramp too.
Record two observations about your system.
2. Study the system more carefully by collecting and analyzing some data. (Remember to zero the scale)
Measure and record the height of the top end of the ramp,
as a way of showing the steepness of the incline. Repeat these measurements for various positions of the ramp, ranging from horizontal
to nearly vertical.
Enter the results in a table, like the one below..
Force vs. steepness of incline for a cart on a hill
|
height of top end of ramp above table (meters) |
force the cart exerts on the scale (Newtons) |
Graph your data. You will have to make the
scale for the
vertical axis first.
Comments on making graphs
How height of an incline affects how hard a cart pulls downhill.
Interpreting graphs requires analyzing and summarizing how two variables are related.
4. What does your graph tell you about the relationship between the two variables (how the steepness of the incline affects the force on the cart)?
5. How can you use your graph to determine the actual weight of the cart?
a hint
another hint
Science Content: balanced forces