Galileo vs. Aristotle

            Earlier, we learned that Aristotle believed that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones.  Galileo did not agree with Aristotle, but was unsure how to prove it.  One method he tried was dropping objects from a tower.  Today, you will test another method.  You will be dropping differently weighted Hot Wheels cars down similar tracks.

Hypothesis

Materials

4 tracks of the same length

4 HotWheels cars with different weights

stopwatch

Procedures

1.  Weigh the HotWheels car at your track.

2.  Record this mass in the recording of data section.

3.  Put your car at the start of the track.

4.  When the timer says “go”, release the car as the timer starts the watch.

5.  The timer should stop the watch when the car reaches the end of the track.

6.  Repeat this 4 times.  Be sure to record each time.

7.  Calculate the average time.

Recording of Data

Analyzation of Data (Graph)

Conclusion

Error Analysis

~~~~~Back to Renaissance Introduction~~~~~