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It is said that these Darda cars are capable of going up to 600 scale miles per hour. In this lab, it is our goal to prove this to be true. By using the typical classroom facilities (Computer Based Laboratory [CBL], TI-83, Vernier Photogates, track and car), we were able to calculate and verify this claim.
SetupOur setup consisted of a Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL), a TI-83, a pair of Vernier Photogates, a track, and our Darda car. Also used were meter sticks to support our Photogates. We start our car at the opposite end (in above picture), then send it flying toward the other end (below), where it should achieve it's top speed. The distance between the center of our two photogates was 0.255m. We used the Physics program, downloadable from ticalc.org, to record our data. |
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Conversion Factors and Equations Used
Velocity |
v = m/s : Velocity is meters per second |
Velocity - MPH |
(m/s)(3600s/hr)(39.5in/m)(1ft/12in)(mi/5280ft) = x MPH |
Scale Factor (between our Porsche Boxster and the real thing) |
1m : 58m |
We began by setting up the track, with the two photogates propped on two pairs of meter sticks, 0.255m apart, so that the laser may catch the car as it passes through. We set the photogates at the end of the track so that we may calculate the top velocity of the car. We then connected the CBL and calculator. Once we started the Physics program and setup up our probes, we wound up the car and let 'er rip. We tried this two times, and received the same result of 0.049s for the distance covered.
With this information observed, we attempted to find the velocity by dividing the distance traveled (0.255m) by the amount of time it took to travel that distance (0.049s). Our velocity was 5.204m/s. We used the conversion factor for velocity - MPH (listed above), and found the car to be traveling at 11.641mi/hr.
After finding the velocity, we searched the internet for stats on a real Porsche Boxster. We found that a real world Porsche Boxster was 4.315m in length. Knowing that our Darda Porsche is 0.075m in length, we were able to calculate the scale factor by dividing the Darda length by the real world length, resulting in a scale factor of 1:58. Once we found the MPH, we used the scale factor, 1:58, and found the car to be traveling at 675.190 scale MPH.
In conclusion, the Darda car is capable of traveling of up to 600 scale MPH. In fact, we also conclude that our Darda car is capable of going 600+ scale MPH. Also, we believe our Darda car may have been capable of traveling above our calculated 675.190 scale MPH because the track used was not entirely straight. Therefore, the car occasionally grazed the side of the track, slowing down our car, and affecting our true top speed.
Site created by Todd Jaynes, Anthony Trotter, Ken Riste, and Greg Szot | Site last updated Tuesday, January 19, 1999 04:04 PM | E-mail Todd at komoriha@usa.net Anthony at Saxy1@usa.net Ken at kkeithr3@earthlink.net
