The Effects of Different Surfaces on the Acceleration of a Toy Car

Transportation is very essential to each person’s life. Transporting goods and people are the main uses of transportation. Everyday we encounter different transportation vehicles. These vehicles do not run on one kind of surface only. The roads and tracks where automobiles run are not of the same kind. Sometimes automobiles have to run along a concrete, asphalt, or grassy track. Automobiles run on different kinds of surfaces. These surfaces have different friction force. Friction is the force that acts between two objects in contact because of the action-reaction phenomenon. According to Ron Kurtus (2005), the rolling friction of the tire is slightly affected by the static friction of the rubber on the pavement and the adhesion effect on the motion of the wheels.
Our research studies the effects of different surfaces on the acceleration of the toy car. This research used a toy car as a substitute to a real moving car. Six surfaces, the asphalt, concrete, wood, grass, ice, and sand, were used as the surfaces in the study. The observed results of the study can provide data on how different surfaces may affect the acceleration of the toy car.
Our research study is a basic research. It does not produce or create something. It just adds knowledge or data to an existing knowledge. Our study can help the transportation industry in terms of adding knowledge to the friction of different surfaces. It specifically contributes to the tire industry so that they can make a way that the cars can have greater acceleration on surfaces that have a big coefficient of friction.
The research used the six surfaces and the toy car as its main materials. The toy car was run through five meters on each of the surface for ten consecutive trials. The toy car just as running was captured through a video camera. The videos were then uploaded in the computer to be analyzed. The Video Point Software was used in computing the acceleration of the toy car.
After the experiment, it was found out that the toy car did not run in the sand, ice and grass surfaces. The toy car was too light to gather enough friction so that it can run. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used as the statistical treatment of the study. The concrete surface had the highest mean acceleration of 1.475 m/s2; wood had he second highest mean acceleration of 1.190 m/s2 and asphalt was the third with an acceleration of 1.020 m/s2. The concrete surface having the smoother surface had the greatest acceleration. The asphalt surface having the roughest surface has the least acceleration. While the surfaces, having no friction had no acceleration.
Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the lesser the friction of the surface, the greater is the acceleration. The more the friction of the surface, the less acceleration will it experience. In addition, no friction would result no acceleration.
The researchers of the group recommend using a real car in doing the experiment. Because what we really used as transportation are real cars and not just toy cars. We also recommend considering the factors that may affect the study. Some of these are air resistance, tire used, and the battery.