Speed Trap Lab

The Speed trap lab we did on the very first day of school. We made chalk lines that were 30 +/- 1 m apart, and we timed how long cars took to go front tire to front tire across the lines. We estimated the uncertainty of distance and time. We calculated speed in m/s and mph, and then we also calculated the uncertainty that the m/s had.

Here is a video that shows how to calculate the speed in m/s and then convert that to mph

Here is a video that shows you how to calculate the uncertainty - In this video I use an uncertainty of +/- 1 meter - you want to use whatever is appropriate for your situation.

Be sure that you show the uncertainty calculation for at least two of the speeds, but calculate uncertainty values for all the different cars.

Pandemic Version:

Calculating and picking your distance

Calculating your velocities from your times,

Here is a video that shows you how to calculate the uncertainty - In this video I use an uncertainty of +/- 1 meter for the distance, and an uncertainty of +/- 0.2 s for the time - you want to use whatever is appropriate for your situation. (If you don't know, just use 1 m as your length uncertainty)