A student designs a gravity experiment. She will time how long it takes different objects to fall from her school’s roof to the ground. She will use three objects: a 2-foot-long board, a toy car, and a paper bag. What is wrong with her experiment’s design?

Question

Responses

The school roof is not tall enough to test the effect of gravity on different objects.

The objects do not have the same size, shape, or mass, so any differences in drop times cannot be attributed to one variable.

The experiment does not test enough objects.

Gravity will not affect how long it takes for the objects to fall to the ground.

Answer 1

The most accurate response to identify the issue in the student's experiment design is:

The objects do not have the same size, shape, or mass, so any differences in drop times cannot be attributed to one variable.

This response highlights that the differences in the objects may introduce additional variables (like air resistance) that could affect the results, making it difficult to draw conclusions solely based on the effect of gravity.