After you have been assigned to a lab/project group, your group will be given an experimental apparatus with which to take data. The experimental apparatus consists of a funnel mounted on a stand, a ramp mounted above the funnel, and a ball bearing. Your task in this lab is to conduct an experiment to determine how long it takes the ball bearing to roll down the funnel.
Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the apparatus. Do a few trial runs. You'll soon notice that there are several factors that can be set in doing this experiment. Two that you'll want to consider in today's experiment are:
= Vertical angle of the ramp above the funnel.
= Angle between the ramp and funnel (that is
the angle
between the ramp and the tangent to the funnel at the point where the
ball enters the funnel).
For today's experiment, use the ruler and the protractor supplied to
set 
to x degrees and 
to y degrees (you choose x and y).
When you are familiar with the apparatus, you are ready to begin timing the ball's stay in the funnel using the stopwatch supplied, and to record your results.
For each run one group member will release the ball and another will
time the ball with a stopwatch, and a third will record the result on
paper. Your group will perform one set of three runs with each
possible pair of group members. (So if there are four in your group, you will
do twelve sets of three runs each). The settings of 
and 
should
be checked before each run.
You will be provided with a data sheet on which to record the observations. For each run you should record the set number, the name of the releaser and timer, the order of the run in the set (1 to 3), and the time.
When you have finished collecting the data, use the methods described in the module to analyze it. Specifically,
Finally, use brainstorming methods to create an Ishikawa diagram to help in identifying sources of variability in the funnel-swirling process.
Write a short report detailing your results.