Rolling cart

1. Reattach the SmartWheel to your cart. Refer to Technical Hints to see how to attach the SmartWheel to the air cart.

2. Connect the SmartWheel to your handheld computer. Refer to Technical Hints to see how to connect the cables.

3. Attach a string to the front of your cart. It can be looped around the bumper.

4. Practice pulling the cart while draping the connecting cable above the cart so that it doesn't pull the cart one way or the other. One person will need to walk alongside the cart while carrying the handheld computer and keeping the wire from obstructing the movement of the cart as it moves in a straight line.

5. Predict the resulting graphs for each of the following motions in Notes on your handheld computer.

   1. pulling the cart forward at a constant velocity

   2. pulling the cart at a slow constant velocity, then a faster constant velocity, then coasting

   3. gradually speeding up the cart, then coasting

   4. pulling the cart, then letting it bounce off a wall

6. Start the software and observe the position versus time graph as you make the following motions on the same graph. Practice until you have all four motions on the same graph, one after the other. Observe how the acrobat responded during each motion.

   1. pulling the cart forward at a constant velocity

   2. pulling the cart at a slow constant velocity, then a faster constant velocity, then coasting

   3. gradually speeding up the cart, then coasting

   4. pulling the cart, then letting it bounce off a wall

7. Save your data to the handheld computer.

8. Draw and describe a graph for each set of movements in Notes on your handheld computer.

   1. pulling the cart forward at a constant velocity

   2. pulling the cart at a slow constant velocity, then a faster constant velocity, then coasting

   3. gradually speeding up the cart, then coasting

   4. pulling the cart, then letting it bounce off a wall

9. Discuss the following questions with your group. What do the graphs show you about the motion of the cart? How did the acrobat respond during the constant motion and the changing motion? Write your ideas in Notes on your handheld computer.