For the 2023 National Science Fair, I designed and conducted an experiment to explore how changing the height of a wooden ramp would impact the speed of a Hot Wheels car. This project was inspired by my interest in physics, specifically motion, energy, and the effects of incline on an object's velocity.
Before beginning my experiment, I hypothesized that increasing the height of the ramp would result in the Hot Wheels car traveling faster. This is based on the concept of gravitational potential energy, which is converted to kinetic energy as the car moves down the ramp. The steeper the ramp, the more energy the car should gain, causing it to increase in speed.
I constructed a simple wooden ramp with adjustable height to allow for different incline angles. Using a Hot Wheels car as the subject of my experiment, I released the car from various heights and measured its speed by timing how long it took to travel down the ramp.
To ensure accuracy, I performed multiple trials for each height to get a reliable average time for each setup. I used a stopwatch to measure the time from the moment the car was released until it reached the bottom of the ramp. I also made sure that the surface of the ramp was smooth and consistent for all trials to minimize any friction-related variables.
The Results
My experiment included five different ramp heights: 3 IN, 6 IN, 9 IN, 12 IN, 15 IN, 18 IN As I predicted, the car traveled faster with higher ramp heights. The results confirmed that as the height of the ramp increased, the car's speed also increased. The car took less time to reach the bottom of the ramp at higher inclines, demonstrating a higher average speed.
The results of my experiment supported my hypothesis that a higher ramp height increases the speed of the Hot Wheels car. This can be explained by the fact that the car gains more gravitational potential energy at greater heights, which is then converted into kinetic energy as it accelerates down the ramp. This experiment helped me better understand how energy conversion and forces like gravity affect motion in everyday objects.
Through this project, I gained hands-on experience in experimental design, data collection, and analysis, which deepened my appreciation for the principles of physics. It was a fantastic experience to showcase my findings at the 2023 National Science Fair, where I had the opportunity to learn from other participants and share my work with judges and peers.
In the future, I would like to explore how different types of surfaces on the ramp, as well as the car's design (such as wheel size or material), affect its speed. I also want to experiment with varying the starting point of the car, instead of just adjusting the ramp height, to see how the initial velocity of the car influences its overall speed.
