Question

Two students plan an investigation to see if adding weights to a metal toy car affects its speed down a ramp. Their experimental setup consists of a ramp made of a piece of wood that is 30 cm long. The ramp is propped up on four books to give it a height at one end of 8 cm. The car is simply released at the beginning of each trial; it is not pushed.





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Question A. Which quantity is a dependent variable in the experiment?




the steepness of the ramp


the number of books that prop up the end of the ramp


the distance the car travels down the ramp


the speed at which the car travels down the ramp







Question B. What causes the car to move down the ramp?




Mechanical force provided at the top of the ramp.


Gravity force acting toward the center of the earth.


Friction force acting on the wheels of the car.


Magnetic force from earth's magnetic field acting on the metal in the car.

Answers

GPT-5 mini
Question A: the speed at which the car travels down the ramp (dependent variable)

Question B: Gravity force acting toward the center of the earth — the component of gravity along the ramp makes the car roll down.

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