In this experiment, our team would like to find out more about the influence of tyre patterns on the road friction.What we hope to find out are:

+Is there really any difference between varying tyre patterns as in do tyre patterns really affect the frictional abilities?

+And if that is the case, which type of tyre pattern is really most effective?

To do so, our team started with various hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: We assume there is truth in the marketing world’s claim that tyre patterns really do play a part in affecting the frictional abilities and hence stopping power of the car.

Hypothesis 2: We thought that if there were more horizontal lines carved on the eraser, there will be a higher frictional force

1) Attach the 20g weight onto the front part of the eraser.

2) Lightly powder the surface of the ramp using a brush.

3) Slide the eraser down the ramp while timing it.

4) Record the timing

5) After each trial, dust the ramp again (a kind of resetting the environment)

For each type of tyre pattern and hence eraser block, 3 such trials of the experiment are done and the average was taken.

From the table, we can conclude that Eraser C has the most friction when rubbed against a surface as it had taken the longest time to slide down the ramp.

Speed of tyres (average)

Tyre C – 2.93 sec

Tyre A – 2.63 sec

Tyre E – 2.48 sec

Tyre B – 2.20 sec

Tyre D – 1.96 sec

the 4 main factors that affect speed of the tyres:

1) The pattern carved should be diagonal, not horizontal nor vertical2) The width of the pattern cut.3) The depth of the line carved4) It is best to cut a “V” shape

We have greatly benefited from this

5 month long programme. We have

managed to learn many new

things, like how to write

a complete

scientific report. T

his project has

led us to know how one can learn

and explore new stuff.

This Scientific Thinking Programme was

fun and I was excited

about it throughout.

Although my team met some

problems during the

project, we

managed to overcome it with

the help of our teachers and mentors from RP.This programme was certainly beneficial as I have gained a deeper insight into science, a complex subject. There were problems faced like not being able to meet up often but in the end, we still completed this project.

http://cooltext.com/Logoshttp://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/http://sg.search.yahoo.com/searchhttp://www.cyberphysics.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/topics/forces/frictio n.htmhttp://car-tyres.org.uk/http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_length_of_a_car

By having created a car tyre with a high frictional force when rubbed against a surface, car accidents and skidding problems can be reduced. This can be very helpful as the number of car accidents these days is increasing rapidly.