Friction Ramps

Today in maths we used our car ramps to measure how far a car travelled. We used 3 different ramps to explore how friction can make a car travel a short or long distance.

We used a slippery ramp, a smooth ramp and a rough ramp.
The slippery ramp was covered in tinfoil. The smooth ramp was painted and the rough ramp was covered in sand.

Our question: Which ramp will make the car go the furthest?

We discovered the slippery ramp made the car go faster and travel the longest distance. The rough ramp made the car go slowler down the ramp and travel the shortest distance.

We concluded that when the car goes on the rough ramp there is more friction.

Hannah, Payton and Charlie measuring how far the car travelled on the smooth ramp

Caitlin, Jasmine, Ethan and Ayden measuring how far the car travelled on the slippery ramp

Jack trialling the rough ramp