Gravity Car Derby

• What is a soapbox car race?
• Which force makes the car roll down the hill?
• Which force makes the car slow down?

• Building instructions book ‘B’, pages 88 - 102

Experiment 1:

• Place your car at the top of the ramp and let it go! Give it a push if it does not move.
• What happens to the car?
• What happens to the driver?
• Which forces are at work?

Experiment 2:

• Add 4 wheels to your car.
• Predict how far it will go.
• Use a brick to mark where you think it will stop.
• Write your prediction in the ‘?’ column.
• Test your car. Were you right?
• In the other column, write down the actual distance that your car travelled.
• Experiment with different wheel sizes.
• Predict how far your car will go with each wheel size and test to see if you were right!
• Which wheels make your car go the farthest?
• What happens if you add the weighted brick?

• Which forces did you observe?
• Which ‘mod’ made your car travel the farthest?