Fast Car Forces Project

Problem and Solution

The goal of this project was to create a vehicle and maximize the forces on that vehicle to help grasp the concept of forces. To start, we used a very simple vehicle (a notebook) and did various experiments on it on ramps and flat surfaces to observe the concepts of tension, friction and gravity. We used accelerometers, timers and spring scales to apply and record forces on our "car." We then created a real car with various materials to create an experiment. In this experiment, we used an Atwood Machine to apply a powerful force to our new car. We applied this by attaching a string to our car and attaching the other end to a mass on the other end of a pulley. The pulley was on the edge of a counter, and the mass hung over the edge. When the mass was dropped, the car accelerated toward the pulley. With similar methods as with the notebook car, we found the forces being applied to the new car. With this information, we created a sales pitch to "sell" our car to people in our class as a way to present our findings about our method of acceleration.

Reflection

I think I used my critical thinking well in this semester of AP Physics. All throughout the semester, we were told to make various experiments to showcase the various concepts of physics. While these experiments were simple, their processes were not explicit, so I had to interpret the best way to find the information that our group was looking for. For example, when we were told to find centripetal accelerations of an object with different radii, I helped to figure out a way to adjust the length of the string in the experiment at a moment's notice so that we could find results faster and more consistently.

Another thing I think I used well and improved upon during this semester of AP Physics was my communication. Soon after the year began, I realized that it would not work to simply keep to myself in this class and do my own work. I realized that through talking to the people around me, I could more easily get work done and allow others to communicate better with me An example of this was in the ball drop lab, where I found it was much easier to split up the work and allow others to work to their abilities so that we could create a project as a group.

I want to improve my cultural competence in AP Physics as I continue with the class. Although the things we need to do have little to do with the outside world, I think it would be important to relate what I can to something relevant. I believe that this would be helpful to establishing Physics as something that is important to the outside world.

Although I improved my character through communication, I would like to continue improving my character so that i may be seen by others as someone who can reliably be simultaneously friendly and hard-working. I would like to do this through working to not only do the work, but do the work with my group.