SJS Yr 5 Friction Experiment By Zach Osman

Friction Experiment Outline As part of the Year 5’ ‘Fun at the Fair’ home learning project, I am going to do a science experiment looking at friction. The definition of Friction (a noun) from Oxford English Dictionary is: ‘The resistance that one surface or object encounters when moving over another’ So, I am going to see what happens when I roll different kinds of balls down a ramp with different surfaces.

Friction Experiment - Equipment • These are the Balls I will use: No Ball Size (mm) Weight (g) Description 1 Golf ball 42 46 Hard plastic, with lots of dimples 2 Rubber ball 50 68 Smooth & soft but quite heavy 3 Moon ball 67 66 Hard & rubbery, lots of holes 4 Stress ball 70 27 Smooth foam and light 5 Plastic ball 85 44 Big, smooth plastic 6 Marble 34 53 Hard glass, smooth I don’t know what difference the weight and materiel of the ball will have on how fast it travels down the ramp. 1 2 3 4 5 6

Friction Experiment - Equipment I will use the following surfaces for this experiment. They will be placed on a ramp (70 cm long) and I will time how quickly the balls roll down the slope (at an angle of 15 degrees). You will also need a stopwatch and tape measure. • Wooden plank • Door mat • Hard Plastic sheet • Foam sheet • Glass

1. Gather the different types of ball you want to use and find different materials, and a ramp, to roll them down. Friction Experiment Method 2. Measure the size and weight of the balls and length of the ramp you will use. This is to make sure the test is the same and fair, and you can try to find out what happens to different types of ball when you roll them. 3. With a stopwatch, time the balls rolling from start to finish down the different surfaces, from the same spot each time. Do this 3 times and write the times down. Afterwards you can find an average time for each ball to make sure the time is accurate. 4. This can take a while, so have a break or ask for some help so you don’t get tired and you get the tests right! 5. Analyse your results!

Friction Experiment - Results Ramp/Ball Wood Plastic Door Mat Glass Foam Mat 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. 32 1. 30 1. 16 1. 09 1. 02 0. 92 1. 10 1. 39 1. 05 0. 96 0. 90 1. 15 1. 20 1. 40 1. 06 1. 03 0. 84 1. 19 1. 26 1. 45 1. 06 1. 05 0. 89 0. 93 1. 20 1. 23 1. 01 1. 20 0. 99 0. 89 1. 19 1. 29 1. 10 1. 06 0. 96 1. 05 1. 06 1. 18 1. 26 1. 05 0. 96 1. 15 1. 23 1. 91 1. 17 1. 00 1. 46 1. 91 1. 35 1. 28 1. 47 1. 41 2. 35 1. 65 1. 41 1. 40 1. 26 1. 36 2. 25 1. 87 1. 43 1. 35 1. 36 1. 41 2. 17 1. 62 1. 37 1. 41 1. 36 0. 92 1. 29 1. 16 1. 13 0. 89 1. 00 1. 26 1. 19 1. 12 1. 16 0. 96 1. 10 1. 25 1. 20 1. 15 1. 16 1. 03 1. 00 1. 27 1. 18 1. 14 1. 15 0. 96 0. 99 1. 08 1. 09 1. 05 1. 09 0. 96 1. 05 1. 25 1. 00 1. 06 1. 13 0. 90 1. 05 1. 23 1. 08 1. 03 1. 22 1. 03 1. 19 1. 06 1. 05 1. 15 0. 96

Surface Ball Quickest Time Ball Slowest Time Wood Marble (6) 0. 89 s Moon (3) 1. 45 s Plastic Golf ball (1) 0. 96 s Stress ball (4) 1. 91 s Door mat Marble (6) 1. 36 s Rubber ball (2) 2. 17 s Glass Marble (6) 0. 96 s Rubber ball (2) 1. 27 s Foam mat Marble (6) 0. 96 s Rubber ball (2) 1. 19 s Friction Experiment Findings Quickest ball and Surface

Friction Experiment - My Conclusions From this experiment, I can see that the smoother the surface, the faster the ball will go because it will not get caught on anything - this is less FRICTION. More friction causes the balls to go slower. Although the rubber ball (2) is smooth, heavy and is sticky so will be pulled down more and therefore will go slower for longer. On the other side of the results table we have the marble (6). It is glass so smooth and dense throughout, and also quite heavy. This means it will not interact with the surfaces with more friction and that is why the marble is the fastest ball in the experiment. For the surfaces, my results show that the mats with the less friction are glass at 1. 06 s and foam with 1. 07 s, as an average time for all types of ball. The door mat has lots of bristles, so it causes more friction on the balls and as a result is the slowest surface material.