May The Inertia Force Be With You.

What direction will the marble roll when:
-It is blocked by an outside force?
- It is rolling in a circle with a open side?
- It gets to the end of a wooden block maze?

 

Hypothesis:

We think the marble will roll straight because an object in motion always wants to go in a straight line.

    

Materials: 

Our materials are
- Open and closed wooden circles.
- Marbles
- Wood block maze
- Paper and Pencil

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Safety Procedures

 1: Don't throw the marbles
 2: Be careful with wooden circles

Procedure:

   Experiment 1
  1. Show the marble rolling and following the edges of the closed wooden circle. Predict what will happen when you put your finger in the path of the marble.
 2. Put your finger in the path of the marble. What happened? 
   Experiment 2
 1. Show the open wooden circle. Predict what direction the marble will roll in when it flows out of the opening.
 2. Trace the open wooden circle on the piece of paper and use the pencil to predict what direction the marble will roll in.
 3. Conduct experiment. What happened? 
 4. Use the colored pencil to draw the path of the marble.
       Experiment 3
  1. Show wooden block maze. Put marble at the start and make a prediction about what direction the marble will roll when it reaches the end of the maze.
  2. Give the marble a little push through the maze. Was your prediction correct?
 

The Science behind it

Our project focused on Inertia. Inertia is Newton's first law of motion. This law states "An object at rest stays at rest and a object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."

Conclusions

 In first experiment,we added an unbalanced force, our finger; which should have stopped the marble from rolling in a straight line.
 In our second experiment, the marble did not continue in the circle it rolled in a straight line, exhibiting   Inertia.
In our third experiment, the marble rolled in a straight line because the marble would want to go in a straight line at the same speed according to Inertia. 
Our hypothesis was correct. We accept our hypothesis.

About Marissa

  Marissa is 10 years old and loves to play the double bass. She also loves her dog and her family. She is on the Somers girls lacrosse team. Her favorite school subject is art. 

About Kiera

   Kiera is 11 years old and loves to play the guitar.   She also loves her friends and family.  She plays basketball and softball.  Her favorite school subject is math.