EDUCATION
Key Stage 4 / Science / Lesson 1
Friction, stopping distances
and road surface
Box with weights
to represent car
Pulling force
Force meter
Use the margarine-tub car to investigate how different surfaces affect
stopping distance.
Make a single cut in an elastic band so
that you have a strip of elastic which you
can use as a car launcher.
Force meter
Measure the
distance it takes
for the car to stop.
Pull the launcher back to the
same force each time.
1
Measure the
stopping distance
over a range of
different surfaces.
Page 1
2
Take enough
measurements to
make your results
reliable.
3
4
Present your
results in a graph.
Explain why the
stopping distances
are different for
different surfaces.
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