Activity 3.6 Instant Challenge Fling Machine
In activity 3.6 we did the instant challenge: fling machine. In this activity, we made a flinging machine and tested the distances we could make with it.
Conclusion Questions
1. Analyze the cotton ball travel distance data that you collected.
a. Record the travel distances of the cotton ball that you measured during the testing phase below and create a dot plot of your data.
b. Create a histogram of your data using five class intervals.
c. Is the data normally distributed? Justify your answer. No the data isn't normally distributed because there is an outlier in the data.
d. Calculate the mean, median, range and sample standard deviation of the travel distances of the cotton ball. The mean of the data is 13.46, the median is 13.67, the range is 15.42 and the sample standard deviation is 4.0406 of the travel distances of the cotton ball.
e. Give a range of travel distances within which you would predict that 95% of all cotton balls launched with your device would fall. For example, you might predict that 95% of the cotton balls that you launch would travel between 2.25 ft and 3.00 ft. Justify your answer. I believe that 95% of all cotton balls launched with my device would fall between the 13.5 ft and 21.5 ft because the data is not normally distributed therefore not making a bell curve and the majority of the data falls between 13.5 and 21.5 feet.
2. Do you feel that the statistical analysis results would be a better measure of performance when comparing alternate devices that the distance traveled by a cotton ball in a single attempt? Why or why not? No, I do not feel that the statistical analysis results would be a better measure of performance when comparing alternate devices that the distance traveled by a cotton ball in a single attempt because using different devices are sure to give way to varying distances whereas multiple attempts using one device should be more precise.
3. How would you recommend using the results of your statistical analysis of travel distances to assess device performance (rather than giving points for the distance of the single attempt allowed in the challenge)? I would recommend using the results of my statistical analysis of travel distances to assess device performance by giving points for the teams with the highest means for the distances of the ten attempts that were recorded for the challenge.
4. If you had the opportunity to optimize your design, how would you increase the distance that the cotton ball moves? I would increase the distance that the cotton ball moves by update the machine so that it's more of a catapult where a lever moves back with the cotton ball instead of launching the cotton ball individually.
5. If you had the opportunity to optimize your design, how would you reduce the amount of materials used? I would reduce the amount of materials used by simply getting a Popsicle stick, a spoon, and a rubber band to make a catapult that can be easily made and launched.
6. How could you improve the effectiveness of your team? I would improve the effectiveness of my team by having each one of us work on a different part of the fling machine to work faster while also having one of us work on the written work and questions.
a. Record the travel distances of the cotton ball that you measured during the testing phase below and create a dot plot of your data.
b. Create a histogram of your data using five class intervals.
c. Is the data normally distributed? Justify your answer. No the data isn't normally distributed because there is an outlier in the data.
d. Calculate the mean, median, range and sample standard deviation of the travel distances of the cotton ball. The mean of the data is 13.46, the median is 13.67, the range is 15.42 and the sample standard deviation is 4.0406 of the travel distances of the cotton ball.
e. Give a range of travel distances within which you would predict that 95% of all cotton balls launched with your device would fall. For example, you might predict that 95% of the cotton balls that you launch would travel between 2.25 ft and 3.00 ft. Justify your answer. I believe that 95% of all cotton balls launched with my device would fall between the 13.5 ft and 21.5 ft because the data is not normally distributed therefore not making a bell curve and the majority of the data falls between 13.5 and 21.5 feet.
2. Do you feel that the statistical analysis results would be a better measure of performance when comparing alternate devices that the distance traveled by a cotton ball in a single attempt? Why or why not? No, I do not feel that the statistical analysis results would be a better measure of performance when comparing alternate devices that the distance traveled by a cotton ball in a single attempt because using different devices are sure to give way to varying distances whereas multiple attempts using one device should be more precise.
3. How would you recommend using the results of your statistical analysis of travel distances to assess device performance (rather than giving points for the distance of the single attempt allowed in the challenge)? I would recommend using the results of my statistical analysis of travel distances to assess device performance by giving points for the teams with the highest means for the distances of the ten attempts that were recorded for the challenge.
4. If you had the opportunity to optimize your design, how would you increase the distance that the cotton ball moves? I would increase the distance that the cotton ball moves by update the machine so that it's more of a catapult where a lever moves back with the cotton ball instead of launching the cotton ball individually.
5. If you had the opportunity to optimize your design, how would you reduce the amount of materials used? I would reduce the amount of materials used by simply getting a Popsicle stick, a spoon, and a rubber band to make a catapult that can be easily made and launched.
6. How could you improve the effectiveness of your team? I would improve the effectiveness of my team by having each one of us work on a different part of the fling machine to work faster while also having one of us work on the written work and questions.