Have you ever wondered why cars stay on the road when they round a corner? Why is it more difficult to round those corners when the road is wet or covered with ice? Besides the banking of the road, the tires provide a frictional surface against the surface of the road. The ideal car provides friction when you need it (turning and braking) but has little when you don't want it (speeding along in a straight line).

It's not that easy to make a vehicle move with almost no friction. But that's the goal of this investigation. We want a cart that's almost friction free so that we can study the forces on moving objects without being confused by the forces due to friction. Suppose a frictionless cart is pushed across the floor. How far do you think the cart will go? What forces will affect the motion of a frictionless cart? Explain your predictions in Notes on your handheld computer. Refer to Technical Hints to see how to use the CC LabBook software.