Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Ants on a Slant (Inclined Plane)

Vocabulary: friction, inclined plane, work

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Imagine you were lifting very heavy jugs to the top of a house. You can either use the stairs
on the left or push them up the inclined plane on the right. Which option is easier? Why?

I would use the inclined plane cuz it requires less effort when the surface is smooth
____________________________________________________________________________

2. If a person in a wheelchair wanted to get to the second story of a two-story building, would it
be easier to take a short, steep ramp or a long, shallow ramp? Explain.

_____the person should take the inclined plane since the wheel runs smoother on it
____________________________________________________________________

Gizmo Warm-up

1. In the Ants on a Slant Gizmo, ants use a slanted stick to help push food
to the top of a tree stump. Drag the stick sideways to change its
steepness. Change the number of ants by dragging them to the item.
Then click Play ( ) to see if the ants can lift the item.

First, describe a strategy to find out which items are heavier than others.

____less ants needed represnt that the item is lighter

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

2. List the food items in order, from lightest to heaviest, using your method:

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(lightest) ____corn_________, _______blueberry_____, ____peanut_________,
___almond__________ (heaviest)

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 Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Inclined planes:  Click Reset.
pros and cons  Make sure No friction is selected.

Question: What are advantages and disadvantages of using inclined planes to help lift?

1. Observe: Run a few trials with the Gizmo. Explore both shorter (steeper) and longer (flatter)
sticks. Why do you think people (or ants) would choose to use an inclined plane to help lift?

____Using an inclined plane makes it easier to move an object. It takes less force to
move an object in an upward direction on an inclined plane than it does to lift the object
straight up. Moving the object up an inclined plane requires moving it an increased
distance.
_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. Predict: Make two predictions below. (Stick lengths in the Gizmo: 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30
cm.)

A. Which stick length will let you lift a peanut with the fewest ants?
_____30___________

B. Which stick length will require the longest time to lift a peanut?
___10______________

3. Experiment: Test your predictions. Use all five stick lengths to lift a peanut. List results here.

10 cm 15 cm 20 cm 25 cm 30 cm
10cm is
not
Minimum ants needed to lift
provided 2 2 2 1
peanut
in the
gizmo
10cm is
not
Time needed to lift the peanut provided 1.58s 2.02s 2.52s 3.06s
in the
gizmo

4. Draw conclusions: Name an advantage and a disadvantage of using an inclined plane.

A. Advantage: _______less effort especially for wheels

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 ___________________________________________________________________

B. Disadvantage: __easy to lsip

___________________________________________________________________

5. Analyze: The stick doesn’t just support the peanut; it actually pushes up on it! (Think of what
would happen if the stick suddenly disappeared.) This pushing up is what “helps” the ants.

A. Which kind of inclined plane pushes up more? (Circle one.) Steeper Flatter

What do you think causes this? ___it has a greater mechanical advantage. Less force is
needed to move objects up the gentler slope, yet the objects attain the same elevation
as they would if more force were used to push them up the steeper slope.
B. _______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:  Click Reset.
 Make sure No friction is selected.
Work, work, work
 Select the blueberry.
 Select the 10-cm stick (shortest, steepest stick).

Question: How does length of an inclined plane affect the force needed to lift an object?

1. Form hypothesis: Suppose you already know how many ants it takes to lift an object straight
up (using the 10-cm stick). How can you predict the number of ants that will be needed to lift
the object with an inclined plane of a certain length?

Hint: Play with the Gizmo. See how doubling the length changes the number needed.

__longer lenngth means less ants needed

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. Collect data: How many ants can lift the blueberry straight up (using 10-cm stick)?
___2____

3. Predict: Use your hypothesis to predict what is the smallest number of ants required to lift
the blueberry on sticks of other lengths:

15-cm stick _______2______ 20-cm stick _____1________ 30-cm stick

4. Experiment: Test your predictions in the Gizmo. How many ants are needed for each?

15-cm stick _______2______ 20-cm stick _____1________ 30-cm stick

5. Calculate: The work used to lift an item equals the force needed times the distance moved.
You can estimate work by multiplying the number of ants times the stick length.

10 cm 15 cm 20 cm 30 cm

Ants required (minimum number) 2 2 1 1

Approximate work (ants x length) 20 30 20 30

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6. Draw conclusions: How does using an inclined plane affect the work required to lift an item?

Less force is needed to move objects up the gentler slope, yet the objects attain the
same elevation as they would if more force were used to push them up the steeper
slope.
_______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity C:
 Click Reset.
Friction
 Select Friction.

Introduction: When people rub their hands together, friction is the force that tries to stop the
motion. Friction also can stop a pencil from sliding down a tilted desk.

Question: How does friction affect an object sliding on an inclined plane?

1. Explore: Use the Gizmo to examine the effects of friction. Run several different trials.

A. Are there times when friction helps the ants? _friction helps the ants to climb on
incline planes ______________________________

B. Are there times when friction prevents the ants from lifting the item? __to much
friction prevent ants from moving ___________

2. Investigate: Select the blueberry. Run the test on the 10-cm, 20-cm, and 30-cm sticks.
Record the minimum number of ants needed with friction, and also without friction.

No friction Friction
Minimum Work Minimum Work
ants needed (ants x length) ants needed (ants x length)
10
2 20 3 30
cm
20
1 10 2 20
cm
30
1 10 2 20
cm

3. Analyze: Friction causes work to be “wasted” as heat (which is why your hands get warm).

A. Does friction waste more work on longer or shorter planes? ___shorter

B. How can you tell? ______longer planes requres less effort

C. Why do you think this is? [Hint: Remember the stick presses up on the item. Do your
hands get warmer faster if you press them together harder as you rub?]

______yes, the harder you rub the warmer it gets

___________________________________________________________________

4. Conjecture: Does friction cause more energy to be wasted if the object is heavier? Why?

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Not necessarily. Friction is related to mass, not weight.

_________________________________________________________________________

Use the Gizmo to test this. Describe your results in your notebook or on a separate sheet.

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