Comparing Data: Is there a pattern?

Last week our scientists had a chance to test and see if changing the height of a ramp gave a car more force. We collected a lot of data and graphed it to see if we could find a pattern or a trend.

We noticed that the distance the crashbox moved got higher and higher as we increased the height of the ramp (most students found this to be true). When comparing the force a car had to the distance a car travelled, my scientists discovered that they had a very similar relationship. The force increased AND the distance increased as we increased the height of the ramp.

My students theorized that dropping cars from higher heights gave the car more force because it had a steeper angle to travel down. They also guessed that this gave the car time to speed up which is why it had more force.

Please check out their graphs below:

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