On Your Own Paper

Spaghetti Strength Lab

DO NOT WRITE ON THIS LAB HANDOUT! 

Complete the student lab worksheet that you have instead!

Question:How much weight can a strand of spaghetti hold at various lengths?

Hypothesis:What do you think will happen?

If the books are farther apart, then the spaghetti will hold (more/fewer) pennies.

Materials:dry spaghettipaper

pennies (approx 75)pencil

cup2 books

Procedure:

1. Use the ruler to place the two stacks of books 10 cm apart.
2. Gently hang the cup from one strand of spaghetti.
3. Place the spaghetti on top of the books to form a bridge. The cup should be hanging down between the stacks of books like a bucket.
4. One at a time, add pennies to the cup until the spaghetti breaks.
5. Record the number of pennies needed to break the spaghetti in Data Table 1.
6. Repeat this procedure 2 times and record the number of pennies in the data table.
7. Now use the ruler to place the stacks of books 15 cm apart.
8. Repeat the above procedure three times and record the number of pennies in the data table.
9. Finally, use the ruler to place the stacks of books 20 cm apart.
10. Repeat the above procedure three times and record the number of pennies in the data table.
11. Cleanup - be sure that all pieces of spaghetti are placed in the trash can - not in the sinks or on the floor!!!

Results:

Graphing:

Use the above table to graph your data and create a visual representation of your results.

Remember, your independent variable goes along the x axis and your dependent variable goes along the y axis. ONLY GRAPH YOUR AVERAGES!

Analysis:

1. Identify the following (no need for complete sentences):

• Independent Variable: ______
• Independent Variable Changes Tested: ______
• Dependent Variable: ______
• Constants: ______
• Make a statement about how the distance between the stacks of books affects the number of pennies needed to break the spaghetti.

2. Why did you do three trials and find the average?

3. What is a constant? Why is it important to use the same type of spaghetti for each trial?

Conclusion:

1. Was your hypothesis correct?If so, how was it supported? If not, explain how the results prove something different.

1. What were some uncontrolled variables that might have affected your results?

Spaghetti LabName ______

BASICDate ______Period ____

Question: How much weight can a strand of spaghetti hold at various lengths?

Hypothesis: What do you think will happen?

IF the books are farther apart, then I think the spaghetti will hold ( MORE / LESS) pennies.

IF the books are closer together, then I think the spaghetti will hold ( MORE / LESS) pennies.

Results Table:

*** Average = Add all 3 trials from each distance and divide by 3****

Results Graph:Do not forget to title your graph, label your x and y axes, and put a scale on each of the axes.

Title:______

Analysis:

1. Identify the following:

• Independent Variable: ______
• Dependent Variable: ______
• Constants: ______

• Make a statement about how the distance between the stacks of books affects the number of pennies needed to break the spaghetti.

2. Why did you do three trials and find the average?

1. What is a constant? Why is it important to use the same type of spaghetti for each trial?

Conclusion:

1. Was your hypothesis correct? If so, how was it supported by the experiment? If not, explain how your hypothesis was different from the results of the experiment.

1. What were some uncontrolled variables that may have affected your results and how would you control these variables if you ran this experiment again?