FRESHMAN YEAR: How does time affect position?

In our most recent lab, we tested how time affects position. Our group chose to use the black car to do this experiment. We marked every meter with tape down the hall. We chose to use 5 second intervals. So, from the starting point (also reference point), we started the car and once we hit our desired time (5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, or 25s), we stopped it. Then we measured how far from the starting point in meters, and then converted to centimeters.

Our graph was linear, and so was everyone else's, with the exception of one group. This means, as time increases, so does the position of the car. (By the way, the definition of position is the location of an object relative to a reference point, also starting point in this case). Unless speed was changed, our position should have increased the same amount everytime. Our data was a bit off due to human error. We also talked about how this graph should have a 0,0. (0,0 meaning zero seconds in time and zero centimeters in position). Our class decided this, because this is actually measurable, and we know our starting point/reference point is zero.

We did a second experiment that day too. Everything remained the same except our starting point. Our starting point was .5 of a meter behind pur reference point. We started our time at the starting point, but measured position from the the reference point. This graph was also linear. The two experiments were very alike, except the position in the second one ended up closer to the reference point. For our second experiments, all groups had different things they had to change from their first experiments. One of the most interesting ones I saw, was the one where the car had to go in the opposite direction of the original. When put on the same graph, it looks like the first experiment is going in a positive direction, and the second one is going into the negatives. They can actually be flipped around, the first can be negative and the second can be positive, it really doesn't matter. The reason behind putting one into negatives, and one into positive is to show that the car ended up in a different position. If it was a distance graph, and the speed was the same, one line would overlap another.


So basically, thats what we talked about.