momentum lab
We set out to find the relationship between mass and momentum. To do this, we set up a ramp 0.399 meters long and had a book 0.222 meters away from the ramp’s end. We’d roll the 55.3 gram cart down the ramp and measure the distance the book would move once it was hit. We added 500 grams to the cart and rolled the cart down the ramp four times and measured how far the book traveled. We concluded that more mass means more momentum because, when the mass was 555.3 grams (we added 500 grams), the book moved further before the cart stopped. Bigger masses have more inertia, so the data is logical.
An interesting occurrence is, while the book's distance varied only slightly when the mass of the cart was low, the distance varied from 3.9 meters to 9.9 meters when the mass was higher.