Pennies in Space part 1

PURPOSE :

The purpose of this lab is to provide you with data that will allow you to explore relationships between variables. In particular, you will be attempting to determine which variables affect the distance traveled by a penny.

OVERVIEW:

You will collect data from 16 trials. In each trial, you will launch a penny using a simple launcher and will measure how far it travels before landing. Each trial will involve a slightly different set of launch conditions. You will need to build your launcher from items you are likely to have around the house or can easily obtain.

MATERIALS:

To perform this lab, you will need the following items:

2 Popsicle sticks (or something equivalent)

2 small rubber bands

1 Pencil (or similar size stick)

1 stiff flat surface about 10 inches long (a book, ruler, etc.)

1 penny

1 tape measure

1 clear flat area about 5 feet long

several books

SETUP:

First, you will need to build your launcher. This will be done with the rubber bands, pencil, and Popsicle sticks. You should build a launcher that, from the side, looks like Figure 1.

............................................................................................................. Figure 1

Now that you have built your launcher, you can set up the rest of your lab. This should look like Figure 2. (Note the Figure 2 is not to scale.)

............................................................................................................. Figure 2

"launcher"

"launching platform"

PROCEDURE:

You will be launching your penny under various conditions and measuring how far it flies.

1. Set up your launcher as shown in Figure 1.
   ...
2. You may want to mark the points shown in figure 3 so that, when you make changes in your setup, you can return to these settings later. (Note: The pencil should stay in the same position throughout the experiment.)

You may want to mark the points shown in figure 3 so that, when you make changes in your setup, you can return to these settings later. (Note: The pencil should stay in the same position throughout the experiment.)

............................................................................................................. Figure 3

3. Record measurements A and B as indicated in Figure 4 on the table given at the end.

.......................................................................................................... Figure 4

4. Launch your penny by pressing down on the end of the top Popsicle stick and then releasing it.

5. Measure the distance from the end of your flat surface to where the penny first lands, not necessarily where it stops. This is measurement C in Figure 4.

6. Remove one of the books and repeat steps 3 to 5.

7. Remove a second book and repeat steps 3 to 5.

8. Remove a third book and repeat steps 3 to 5.

9. Replace all three books.

10. Move the launcher to a second spot on the stiff flat surface and repeat steps 3 to 9.

11. Move the launcher to a third spot on the stiff flat surface and repeat steps 3 to 9.

12. Move the launcher to a fourth spot on the stiff flat surface and repeat steps 3 to 9.

Part II

Now, based on your data, answer the following questions:

1.....What is your response variable?

2.....What are your explanatory variables?

3.....(a)....Produce a scatter plot of your response variable and each of your explanatory variables. (Attach these graphs to this report.)

.......(b)....What do each of these plots tell you about the relationship between your response and explanatory variables?

4.....(a)....Where appropriate variables exist, develop regression equations to quantify the relationships between your response and explanatory variables. (Attach the analyses produced by your technology to this report.)

.......(b)....Which explanatory variables appear to have the strongest relationship with the response variable? (Support your answer.)

Pennies in Space Lab Continued

Assumptions:

There is probably some variation in the exact measurements you obtained for each of the settings you used for the variables number-of-books and launcher-position. However, this variation should be relatively small. Therefore, you can assume that each of the four settings has a single value. Based on this assumption, you can view each setting as a different treatment.

Based on your analysis of each explanatory variable, which (if any) of these variables has a significant impact on the distance the penny traveled? State your conclusion with regard to both 1% and 5% significance levels (a).

Do your data violate any of the requirements of the ANOVA analysis?

Price: $11.01

Solution: The downloadable solution consists of 8 pages, 301 words and 8 charts.
Deliverable: Word Document