A student wants to investigate the factors that affect the distance a toy car travels along a horizontal floor after rolling down a ramp.

Plan an experiment that will enable him to investigate in detail how the release distance of the car up the ramp affects the distance it travels along the floor before coming to rest.

The apparatus available includes:

• a wooden ramp
• toy cars of different masses and styles
• sheets of different floor coverings (such as carpet, tile, and wood).

Write a plan for the experiment.

In your plan, you should:

• list any additional apparatus needed
• explain briefly how you would carry out the experiment
• describe a precaution which could be taken to ensure that measurements of the distance travelled along the floor are reliable
• state the key variables that you would control
• draw a table, with column headings, to show how you would display your readings (you are not required to enter any readings in the table)
• explain how you could analyse your readings to reach a conclusion.

You may draw a diagram if it helps to explain your plan.