Experiment Details

Here is some more information on the experiments that we will be conducting on the Weightless Wonder.There are technically three experiments that we will be conducting. The three experiment topics include inertial balance, projectile, and an outreach item. When I am down in Houston, my team will be split into two. One team will do the inertial balance experiment when they are on the Weightless Wonder and the other team will do the projectile experiment when they are on the Weightless Wonder. Everyone will do the outreach item.

In more detail, the purpose for the inertial balance experiment is to demonstrate the difference between mass and weight. We will be using different known masses and timing how long it takes each mass to oscillate a certain amount of times. Once we have collected our data for the known masses, we will collect data for objects that have an unknown mass. We will used our results from the experiment to calculate the masses of the unknown objects.

 

For the projectile experiment, spring launchers will be  used to launch ball bearings. We will record the distance that the ball bearings travel in hypergravity. We will be testing ball bearings that have different masses. We will use the data collected to calculate the masses of the ball bearings.

The outreach item is where every team member (there are 5 of us) gets to bring an object on board the Weightless Wonder. The object needs to be small enough so it can fit inside a pocket that is on the jumpsuit that we wear in the Weightless Wonder. Some ideas that have been given to me to take on board is a pen to see if it will still write in zero-g and Nickelodeon Gak. This is a really neat way to get our students involved and interested. I would also like to know if any of you have any ideas of an object that I could take on board. If I can figure out how to put a poll on here, please let me know what your ideas are!