MOMENTUM, DIFFERENT SURFACES, AND MARBLES!!!!!

This week we had to complete a guided inquiry and I chose different surfaces to test.  I chose a carpet square, wool, wood plank, a strip of tile, sandpaper, rubber pad, and a piece of paper. One discovery I made was that rubber slowed down the velocity of the marble, which in turn decreased the momentum (ρ = mν) more than the sandpaper did. The next slowest velocity came from the wool piece, and again when the velocity decreases so does the momentum. When I checked what the friction coefficients were I quickly realized that rubber did in fact have a higher friction coefficient than sandpaper so my evidence was supported with research. The other surfaces actually did not change the velocity of the marble much, and in turn the momentum was pretty similar to each other. I felt this experiment went well! There wasn't anything too challenging with setup or with running the experiment. The results were supported with the friction coefficients so again it went well! I could see myself bringing this into my classroom to use with my students for sure. 

The only thing I would do if I were to bring this into my classroom is to have my students change try out different IV's such as different size marbles or change the ramp angle. Testing all these different variables could add a design project to teaching this concept. I could give each group a students their own IV to test out and then they can present their findings to the class and the data can be analyzed to explain how mass, ramp angle, and different surfaces affect momentum.

 If I do it in the next few days Ill keep you posted!