GummyBabyWave

Abstract:
Forourlastprojectwecreatedawavemodelinspiredbytheinternet.Wewere
consideringmanydifferentthingswecouldtestforthisprojectandwesettledontestingwhether
ornottensionaffectedthespeedofthewaveasittraveledacrossthewavemodel.We
predictedthatthewavewouldtravelfasterwhenmoretensionwasputonit.Wecreatedour
wavemodelbyattachingskewerstoapieceoftapeandthenputtingonegummybabyoneach
endofeveryskewer.Thenwepulledtheskewerstodifferentheightstocreatemoretension.
Wewentthroughsixtestsandhadtodomultipleattemptstocreateaccurateresults.This
projecthasbetteredourunderstandingofwavesandhowdifferentthingseffectthem.

Introduction:
Ourgroupcreatedawavereplicausingducttape,kabobskewers,andjellybabies.We
foundourinspirationfromawavemodelwefoundfromPinterest.Fromthisprojectweare
tryingtofigureouthowtensionaffectsthetraveltimeofthewave.Accordingto
physicsclassroom.comthehigherthetensionthefasterthewavetravels.Forexample,wateris
moredensethanairandsoundwavestravelfasterinwaterbecauseitismoredense/hasmore
tension.Additionally,accordingtoHyperPhysics,Thevelocityofa
travelingwave
ina
stretched
string
isdeterminedbythetensionandthemassperunitlengthofthestring.
We
believethatthemoretensionweputontheducttapeofthemodelthefasterthewavewilltravel
downthemodel.

QuestionandHypothesis:
Howdoestheamountoftensionputonthewavemodelaffectthetraveltimeofthe
wave.Weputmoretensiononthewavemodelbypullingtheskewersupmoreandmoreeach
test.Wepredictedthatthemoretensionweputonthewavemodelthefasterthewavewould
travelacrossthemodel.Ourdependantvariablewashowlongittookthewavetotravelacross
themodelandourindependentvariablewashowhighwepulledtheskewersup.

MethodsandMaterials:
Forthisexperimentwewillcreateamodelwavethatismadeofducttape,skewers,and
gummybabies.ThismodelwillbedesignedinawaythatresembleaDNAstrand.The
skewerswillbeplacedtwoinchesapartperpendicularlyonalongpieceofducttape8feetand
3incheslong.Therewillbeapproximately45skewereachwithtwogummybabiesoneither
sideoftheskewer.Toholdthemodeltogetherwewillplaceanotherpieceofducttapealong
thetopofthemodelsothattheskewersareheldinplacefrombothsides.Whenallputtogether
thismodelwillmovelikeawavebecausetheducttapeislimberenoughthatwhenonesideof
themodelisdisturbeditwillaffectthe
restofthemodelbycausingwavestotravelthroughthe
ducttapeasthedisturbancepassesalongthemodel.Thiswillcausetheskewerstoswayin
wavelikepatternasadisturbancetravelsalongthemodel.

Results:
Tension(Howfartheskewerispulledup)

Time

2inches

2.3

3inches

2.0

4inches

1.9

5inches

1.5

6inches

1.41

7inches

1.36

Discussion:
Wearedoingthisprojectbecausewewantedtogetadeeperunderstandingofwaves.
Fromtestingourwavereplicaweexpectedthatthemoretensionwecreatedthefasterthe
wavewouldgo.Mygroupwascorrect,ourresultsconcludedthatthemoretensionthefaster
thewavegoes.Theindependentvariableaffectsthedependentvariablesbecausewhenwe
pulltheskeweritaffectsthespeedofthewave.Thespeedofthewaveisdependingonhow
muchtensionwecreate.Wewerecorrectthemoretensionthefasterthewavetravels.We
believedthatthetensioncreatedwouldincreasethetravelspeedofthewavebecausethe
velocity,distanceovertime,isdependentonthetensioninthewave.

Thedatatakenwasaccuratebecausewekepteverythingveryconsistent,Forexampleallof
ourmaterialswerethesame.Thedatatakenwasveryaccurate.Ifwedidthisprojectagainthen
wewouldworktosecuretheourwavereplica.Unfortunately,theducttapewasnotstrong
enoughtoholdthewavesowehadtoretapeittoitselfmultipletimes.Furthermore,these

resultsareimportantbecausenowweunderstandhowtensioncorrelateswithwaves.Withthis
projectwecouldhavealsotestedhowthemediumaffectsthespeed.Totestthemediumwe
couldplacemoregummybabiesontheskewers.Thiscouldaffectthewavesamplitudedueto
itsabilitytomovewithheavierobjects.

Bibliography:
"TheSpeedofaWave."
TheSpeedofaWave
.N.p.,n.d.Web.10May2016.
"VibratingString."
HyperPhysics
.N.p.,n.d.Web.10May2016