Sample Solution

Figure X2 shows that the change in temperature and the time are also inversely proportional to one another. With a gradient of -0.05066, this is almost proportional to the relationship between time and brake force. The error bars on the graph in figure X2 are very large, due to the limitation of the equipment, as the digital infrared thermometer only measured with an uncertainty of ±0.1. Nevertheless, the line of best fit almost touches every collected data point. As these error bars even allow for a line of fit with an equal gradient as in figure X1, the conclusion can be made, that the time spent decelerating can be most efficiently used to gain back more of the KE otherwise lost to the environment as the graphs show, that ∆Time≈∆Temp.

Evaluation:
The results obtained from the experiment were expected. The braking time should be longer that the predicted values, as the coefficient of static friction (μ_s), which was used to calculate the hypothesized values, is larger than μ_d, the coefficient of dynamic friction, which actually applies within this experiment.
This is also shown by the difference in the gradient. As figure XX compares the two 1/Time graphs, the discrepancy in the gradient means that there is an increasing difference in the Time vs. Brake Force graphs. That is the effect that the difference between the coefficient of static and dynamic friction has on the experiment, linking back to the mathematical model.

Limitations:
Throughout the conducting of this experiment, there were multiple limitations, the first one being the coordination of the method. Although having one person to operate the timing, the applying of the simulated brake as well as the disconnecting of the motor, may allow for more coordination, the random errors caused throughout this procedure are immense. A solution to this problem could be motion capture. Using video analysis of the mass hitting the model brake disk, the exact time can be established until the disc comes to a halt, eliminating a large portion of the human error.