Dynamics
Measuring the Mass of a Car
   
       
    Date : November 2007
Author : Nathaniel Lasry
College : John Abbott College
Length : 4 hours total (2 x 2)
Related concept(s) : Kinematics 1-D, Kinetic Friction
    Students are participating in a challenge: They must measure the mass of the car using only the objects available in the lab: a stopwatch, a bathroom scale, a reference weight, a measuring tape, a Vernier caliper or any other available object. Students will have two hours to plan a solution and write a procedure. The following week, students carry out their measurement with a car (typically one member of the group volunteers the use of their car). This experiment cannot be easily done in the winter semester due to extremely low temperatures and snow.