Lab Report

Guiding Question: Does a seismograph work better with string or wire?

Hypothesis: I think that the seismograph will work better with string because it will be more flexible and it will be easier for it to move left and right under movement.

Materials

· Flat piece of wood

· 2 on foot long pieces of wood

· Thin but long nails

· Hammer

· Saw

· Tape

· Paper

· Wire and string

· Scissors

· Marker

· Circular weights

Procedure

1. We took a foot long piece of wood and hammered 2 nails to stick it onto the side of the wooden board.

2. We took the other piece of wood and put it horizontally on the other 1 foot long piece of wood facing inwards.

3. We attached one long piece of wire or string to the top and side, leaving to the ends dangling.

4. We attach the wires or string to a 5 sq in flat piece of tape as to stabilize the markers movement.

5. We cut holes in the tape so we can put in the marker and attach the wire.

6. We add the weights to the tape.

7. We put pare under the marker and start shaking the board while pulling the paper from under the marker.

Data Analysis

In this lab I found out that the stronger the material and the more weights you put on it the more accurately it will be able to record earthquakes and the less likely that there will be a false alarm. I also found out that in a seismograph the marker isn’t suppose to move so that most of us where doing it the wrong way, but we still got some good results.

Conclusion

In this lab I found out about how seismographs are made and used. I learnt about earthquakes and how their recorded, why their recorded, and how the things that have been recorded are read. On the way I also learnt how to hammer a nail properly and always trust Aleksej’s random ideas. My hypothesis was incorrect and it turns our that’s a seismograph is better if it is more rigid and not flexible.

Further Inquiry

If I were to do this lab again I think I would try more weight to see if that would help and I would see that if the flat piece of tape we stuck the marker through would be better if it was bigger. Lastly I would try to stabilize the part of the seismograph where the 2 pieces of wood was stuck to the board because that cause the marker to life from the paper.