Carpet Slows the Ball

Lab Brief #4

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Speed isn't the same as force. Don't mix them up.

What you'll learn

When you roll a ball on carpet, it stops faster than on a smooth floor. That is friction!

Key words · 1 of 2

slow
Moving with very little speed, taking a long time.
roll
To move by turning over and over along a surface.

Key words · 2 of 2

stop
To end movement and stay still.

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: where does the energy go?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

ramps

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Say the vocabulary words out loud. Can you repeat them?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Roll a ball down a ramp. Try making the ramp steeper. What happens?

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Did anything change? Point to what is different.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Point to the things you used in the activity.

Question 1 of 3

What makes a ball roll?

Question 2 of 3

What happens when you drop a ball?

Question 3 of 3

Does a ball bounce?

Mind = blown

⚡ Static electricity is the same physics as lightning, just smaller.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Gravity Holds You Down All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: You use this every time you flip a light switch, ride a bike, or kick a ball.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Time how long a small ball rolls down something, then change the slope and try again.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Show me something at home that uses this kind of energy.”

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