A student investigated how the height of a ramp affects the acceleration of a trolley down the ramp - AQA - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 2 - 2020 - Paper 2
Question 2
A student investigated how the height of a ramp affects the acceleration of a trolley down the ramp.
Figure 3 shows some of the equipment used.
Table 1 shows the r... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student investigated how the height of a ramp affects the acceleration of a trolley down the ramp - AQA - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 2 - 2020 - Paper 2
Step 1
Plan an investigation to determine how the height of the ramp affects the acceleration of the trolley.
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Answer
Setup the Equipment: Place one wooden block under the ramp at the lowest height, adjust the ramp's height by adding wooden blocks.
Measurements:
Measure the height of the ramp using a ruler.
Measure the distance the trolley travels on the ramp using a metric ruler.
Use a stopwatch to record the time it takes for the trolley to roll down the ramp.
Repeat for each height.
Conduct the Experiment:
Release the trolley without applying any additional force from the same height on the ramp.
Record the time taken for each trial.
Calculate Acceleration:
Use the formula for acceleration:
a=t(v−u)=2sv2−u2
where v is the final speed, u is the initial speed (0 if starting from rest), t is time, and s is the distance traveled.
Analyze Results:
Repeat the experiment for different heights and calculate the mean acceleration for each height.
Step 2
Complete Figure 4.
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Answer
Label the x-axis as 'Height of ramp (m)' and the y-axis as 'Acceleration (m/s²)'. Plot the remaining points from Table 1 onto the graph. Ensure the points correspond to each height with their respective acceleration values. Finally, draw a line of best fit through the plotted points to illustrate the trend.
Step 3
Write down the equation that links acceleration (a), mass (m) and resultant force (F).
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Answer
The equation that links acceleration (a), mass (m), and resultant force (F) is:
F=m⋅a
Step 4
Calculate the mass of the trolley.
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Answer
Using the formula F=m⋅a, we can rearrange it to find the mass: