Speed and the Two-Step
Objective: In this lab, you will measure and graph your speed and acceleration as you walk from one point to another.
Step 1: Marking Your Space. You will use the hallway or some other large area to measure a distance using string and a meter stick. For our class, we can skip this step because the tiles on the floor are exactly 1 ft x 1 ft. Use masking tape to mark a section of tile that equals 20 feet. We will be going into the hallway for part of this experiment. Do not disturb other classes.
Step 2: Speed of a Shuffle
Have one person in your group “shuffle” the length. This means the person’s feet should never leave the ground, so to move you will need to slide your foot in front of the other. This should be a very slow pace. Another person in the group should time how long it takes (in seconds) to move the 20 feet and record it in the data table. Do 3 trials so that you can get an average.
Step 3: Speed of a Heel-to-Toe Walk
This time, you can lift your foot, but must walk by placing one foot exactly at the toe of the other foot with each step. This should also be a fairly slow pace because your steps are tiny.
Step 4: Normal Walk
For this trial, you can step normally across the length. Try to keep your pace constant.
Step 5: Repeat this process by switching to the other person in your group
Name of Person Walking: |
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Trial (Person 1) |
Time to Move 20 ft |
Speed (feet/s) |
Shuffle (trial 1) |
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Shuffle (trial 2) |
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Shuffle (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 1) |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 2) |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Normal Walk (trial 1) |
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Normal Walk (trial 2) |
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Normal Walk (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Name of Person Walking: |
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Trial (Person 1) |
Time to Move 20 ft |
Speed (feet/s) |
Shuffle (trial 1) |
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Shuffle (trial 2) |
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Shuffle (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 1) |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 2) |
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Heel-to-Toe (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Normal Walk (trial 1) |
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Normal Walk (trial 2) |
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Normal Walk (trial 3) |
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Average |
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Conversions for Fun – use the ratio to determine how fast you walk (use average) in a minute
Now convert your feet per minute to feet per hour (there are 60 minutes in an hour)
Finally, determine your speed in miles per hour using this ratio
1 mile = 5380 feet. Set up a ratio similar to those above.
Step 6: Graph your data. Compare the AVERAGE for each of the 3 walks you and your partner did (shuffle, heel-to-toe, and normal) by making a BAR graph. You may want to use different colors to distinguish between you and your partner.
