Bring Science Home A fun physics project from Science Buddies Key concepts Physics Velocity Acceleration Gravity Introduction Have you ever dropped something and wondered how fast it was moving while falling? (If it was something fragile, you might not have been thinking about this at the time—you were likely too busy trying to grab the object!) We all know that gravity forces an object to fall. But how does this affect how quickly something falls and its impact? For example, did the object move faster right after leaving your hand, or just before hitting the ground? In this science activity, you will explore the relation between time and distance traveled when a moving object is under gravity's constant acceleration.Background You know from experience that when you ride a bike downhill, it is easy to get going fast. Gravity is giving you an extra push, so you don't have to do all the work with the pedals. You also know from experience that the longer the hill, the faster you go. The longer you feel that push from gravity, the faster it makes you go. Finally, you know that the steeper the hill, the faster you go. The steepest "hill" you could imagine is not much like a hill at all, but rather a sheer vertical drop—where objects go into free fall and where gravity gives the biggest push of all. You wouldn't want to try that on your bicycle! In free fall, gravity constantly accelerates an object (increases its velocity)—until it hits terminal velocity. Specifically, gravity increases a falling object's velocity by 9.8 meters per second (m/s) with every passing second. (Whereas velocity is measured in m/s, acceleration is measured in meters per second squared, or m/s2.) How does this constant acceleration affect the distance that an object travels over time? In this experiment you will roll a marble down a ramp to find out. Materials
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More to explore Inclined Planes, from the Physics Classroom Acceleration, from the University of California, Berkeley Distance and Constant Acceleration, from Science Buddies Science Activities for All Ages!, from Science Buddies This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.
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