The following section is a guide for how to analyse your observations and write up your lab report. This may be a slightly different format than in other courses, but you will be assessed using the same rubric you were assessed against in other courses.
Write the following in your experiment write-up as it is written here.
To determine the relationship between the position of a buggy and the duration of the time interval during which it travels.
For this section, pick the outcome you would expect based on the increase that is presented. In addition, pick the type of relationship you would expect.
If the duration of the time interval increases, then the position of the buggy will increase/decrease in a linear/quadratic/root/inverse manner.
Here you will write the materials that you used. Some of the materials you used will match what's on the list, some will differ. Take a picture of your experimental set up to assist with the construction of your list.
Your group will have to come up with your procedure. Ensure that your procedure can be followed word for word. You can't allow a reader to assume that you did something because it makes sense to you.
There are two options for observation tables.
If you are increasing the amount of time by a fixed amount (e.g. allowing the car to travel for 4.0 seconds and then recording its final position) use table 1. If you are increasing the final position and measuring how much time it takes to get there, use table 2.
| ∆t (s) | initial position (m) | final position_1 (m) | final position_2 (m) | final position_3 (m) | average final position (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1.0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 2.0 | 0.0 |
| initial position (m) | final position (m) | ∆t_1 (s) | ∆t_2 (s) | ∆t_3 (s) | average ∆t (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | 1.0 | ||||
| 0.0 | 2.0 |
In this section you will perform any necessary calculations and graphs.
For this experiment, please create a graph of final position vs. time. Please use google sheets to create a scatter graph.
Once your scatter graph is created, please add a trendline (this is available under the "Customize" menu in the "Series" section). Also choose "Equation" under the "Label" drop down.
The equation will be in the form of y = mx + b. You could also print your graph and find the slope and line of best fit.
Use full sentences, you don’t have to include the question number or the question text.
You can put some questions together to make a coherent paragraph.
When building a paragraph, ensure that you use point, proof, explanation format.
For sources of error, you are to determine some possible ways that you could improve the quality of your observations. How could you improve your position or time measurements?
When reporting this information follow the following structure.
"The way that the final position was measured made it to determine the final position within less than five centimetres of the true value. The observation table shows that the final position measurements were only known to a tenth of a metre. The points on the graph don't precisely lie along the line of best fit and if better measurements were made the results may improve. These measurements could be improved by using slow-motion video footage or having a switch on the buggy which could be turned off remotely."
Include at least three citations of other material referenced in the development of your experiment report. The list of citations should be in APA or CSE format and use intext citations within your document. Use the EasyBib gDocs add on or citationmachine.net.