Tumble Buggy Lab Evaluation Questions
1. Sketch your data plot with appropriate labels. What relationship between the variables does this shape imply (write it out in words)?
2. Write the best-fit line equation in the proper format, including units.
3. Explain the specific meaning of the slope of this best-fit line (“For every 1…”).
4. Interpret the meaning of the vertical intercept of your best-fit line. Is this a reasonable expectation for the intercept? Why or why not?
5. Some people chose to make time the independent variable in this activity. Some chose distance as the independent variable. Is one of these choices better than the other? Explain your reasoning.
6. Compare and contrast your graphs to those of a classmate from another lab group. Be specific about the similarities and differences you notice.
7. If you were to repeat the activity with a different buggy and the data resulted in a plot with a greater slope than your current data, what would this tell you about the motion?
8. Using your data for the buggy, determine how far away from the starting position your car would be if it were allowed to travel for 30 seconds.
9. Using your data for the buggy, determine how long it would take the car to travel 20 meters from your starting spot.
10. In this activity, we have been calling one of our measured variables distance. In reality, we recorded the position of the buggy after some amount of elapsed time. Distance can then be viewed as a difference in position: final position – initial position. Imagine setting up this experiment again with same exact starting reference point (position zero).
For each situation described, sketch a graph of the position vs. time and give a description in words how this is different from your original data set in this activity…
a) Place vehicle at your starting reference point but face it in the opposite direction of your original experiment and let it go
b) Place the vehicle 2 m behind the starting reference point and release it in the original direction.
c) Place the vehicle 4 m in front of your starting reference point and release it in the original direction.
d) Place the vehicle 4 m in front of your starting reference point and release it in the opposite direction of the original experiment.