Christine Quang

​Asteroid Collision Lab Report ​11/27/18

Abstract

To test the theory if the dinosaurs actually went extinct due to an asteroid collision, my
group and I used marbles and other materials to research. I used a digital scale to
measure the amount of grams each marble weigh. We rolled marbles of different sizes
through a tube to knock down stacked pennies. Each marble went through five trials
knocking down the stacked pennies. We collected data and recorded the data on a
chart on the amount of pennies knocked over. From what we observed, the marble with
the largest mass knocked over the most pennies. The larger the marble was, the more
force was put into the pennies.

Purpose

I would like to find the best way to prevent an asteroid collision and find a possible way
to not harm the earth. From this project, I want to find out how to stop an asteroid or the
best way to slow down the speed of an asteroid.

Hypothesis

If the marble is larger in mass then it will put more force onto the pennies. Usually when
an object is larger, it will make a larger impact than a smaller object. An example could
be a tennis ball and a basketball. If you were to be thrown at by a tennis ball, it wouldn't
hurt as much compared to a basketball being thrown at you. A basketball has more
mass compared to a tennis ball which is why it would probably injure you slightly. A
basketball doesn't need much force to damage you too, compared to a smaller object
like a tennis ball.

Material

● Pennies (40)
● Pipe insulation tubing
● Textbooks (4)
● Marbles of varying mass (5)
● Pencil
● Papers
 ● Tape
● Digital Scale

Procedure

1. Gather all materials (textbooks, tubing, pennies, marbles, pencil, paper, etc)
2. Stack all the textbooks
3. Tape the tubing to the top of the textbook and make sure it reaches the floor
4. Make two stacks of pennies, each stack 20 pennies
5. Turn on the digital scale
6. Weigh each Marble on the digital scale
7. Collect data
8. Place a marble on the top of the tube and role the marble down
9. Roll the same marble 4 more times
10. Observe and record the results
11. Repeat steps 8, 9, 10 with each marble

The control used in this experiment would be the stacks of pennies. The independent
variable are the marbles of varying mass that are used to knock down the pennies. The
dependent variable is the amount of pennies being knocked over.

Data/Observation

Mass of Trials: Amount of Pennies Knocked Over

Marble
(grams)

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Average

4 15 2 12 2 10 8.2

4.9 12 13 15 14 2 11.2

19.6 18 28 15 19 18 19.6

21.2 37 19 15 16 33 24

90.2 31 20 20 (All) 40 26 27.4

Calculation/Graph
Analysis of Results

The marble with the largest mass knocked over the most amount of pennies which was
a marble with a mass of 90.2 grams. My hypothesis was accurate because the more
larger the marble was, it was more likely to knock down more pennies than one marble
with a smaller mass. A marble with a mass of 19.6 grams and another with a mass of
21.2 grams had very similar results. The marble a slightly larger mass did have a
slightly higher average then the marble that weighs 19.6 grams. From our results and
what we observed, the larger marble had always knocked down more pennies. Which
means that an object with a larger mass will have more kinetic energy and force on
another object that it hits. This means that if a large asteroid or many asteroids hits the
earth, it will do a large amount of impact on it. Newton's third law explains that every
force

Theory

According to NASA.gov, Newton's first law is that an object will remain in place or in
motion in a straight line unless it is changed by an external force. Newton's second law
explains that the velocity of an changes with external force. Newton also developed a
formula which is, F=m*a. Newton's third law explains how every force, there is an equal
or opposite reaction. Meaning if object A exerts a certain amount of force onto object B,
then Object B will exert that same amount of force onto object A.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was proven correct during this experiment since the largest marble put
the most force onto the pennies. From this lab, I learned that a smaller object can put a
decent amount of force onto a larger object. Depending on the mass of the object, it can
use a large amount of force. As said before the larger the mass of the marble is, the
more force it will put onto the pennies. From observing this lab, the pennies the earth
represents are very fragile compared to the marble that represents the asteroids. If the
earth really is that fragile, can the asteroids possibly go through the crust of the earth
and hit the mantle?

Sources of Error

During the time my group was testing marbles, the digital scale had made a error on the
weigh and we weren't aware of it till a few days later. We didn't make sure the weigh
was accurate which was what we should have done instead of weighing each marble a
single time.

Another mistake we had made would have been placing the two stacks of pennies in
front of the tube where the marble would hit them. Because whenever my group rolled
down the marble, the marble would only hit one stack of the pennies but I didn't realize
this until after we finished this lab. There was only a few times where the marble would
hit both stacks of pennies which only happened with the largest marble.