Ramp & Friction Lab

A 60 g car rolls down the ramp. The timer starts the instant it reaches the bottom, then records a split time as the car passes each distance mark. Run all four surfaces and compare.

Timer
0.000
Ready — car at top of ramp

Controls

Surface on the counter
Ramp height
Playback
Timer always reads real seconds
Run the trial
Car mass
60 g
Speed at bottom of ramp
Energy at bottom of ramp
Friction force on this surface
Predicted stopping distance

Data table

Copy these numbers onto your data sheet. Times are in seconds.

Time for the 60 g car to travel each distance

No runs recorded yet.

Graph

Travel time versus distance for each surface.

Release the car to plot a surface.

Model: the car leaves the ramp with speed v = √(2gh × 0.88) — the 0.88 accounts for friction on the ramp itself. On the flat surface it slows at a = μg, so distance d is covered in t = (v − √(v² − 2ad)) / a. Coefficients μ are typical values for a rolling toy car and are listed with each surface.