How do you roll

Lab report instructions for "How do you roll?" lab

For this lab each group should have a print-out or and each member should have a sketch of the shape of position vs. t and v vs. t for the first runs with an empty cart and one angle, down, and up and down the ramp, and then each of you needs a record of the run conditions and fit parameters for each of the runs. After we whiteboard the analysis of the results, and discuss them as a class, I would like everyone to answer the questions in the lab write-up about the dependence on the mass of the cart, the dependence on the angle of the ramp, and the physical meaning of the fit parameters. Those questions are:

(A) Observe your graphs and fit parameters from (1). Does changing the mass affect the motion of cart? Explain. What is the physical meaning of the fit parameters from your fits of your graphs of velocity versus time and position versus time?

(B) Observe the fit parameters for your graphs from the six runs with the empty cart. Does changing the angle affect the motion of the cart? Explain. Which of the fit parameters depends on the angle? Show mathematically how the angle relates to this fit parameter.