Bouncing a cart down and up a hill
Connect the SmartWheel to your handheld computer. Refer to Technical Hints to see how to connect the cables.
Rubber bands can also store energy by being stretched. Attach one or several rubber bands (connected in line) to one end of the cart. Attach the other end to a table leg or stand so that the cart is held halfway up the ramp and is free to move up and down. It's something like a bungee cord but at an angle. You may need some string as well as the rubber bands.
Start the software to read a velocity versus time graph.
Raise the cart to the top of the ramp and let it go.
Stop recording after it bounces up and down the ramp and comes to rest. Save your data to the handheld.
At what points in the cart's travels did it have the greatest speed? At what points did it have zero speed? How can you tell from the graph when the cart was going down and when it was going up? Explain your reasoning in Notes on your handheld computer.
