Question

water bottle flipping
problem: what amount of water works best for flipping a water bottle?
research: from experience, most people find that water bottles are easiest to flip when they are between ¼ and ½ full. completely full and completely empty bottles are difficult to land. when bottles are partially full, it allows the water to slosh around and pull the bottom of the bottle down, thus landing the bottle. this happens because of angular momentum and gravity.
hypothesis: we will be testing bottles that are empty, ¼ full, 1/3 full, and completely full.
which bottle do you believe will be easiest to land?
which bottle do you believe will be most difficult to land?
which bottle does the class believe will be easiest to land?
which bottle does the class believe will be most difficult to land?
procedure:

• you will work in pairs. taking turns, each partner will record for the other and then you will swap data at the end.
• each partnership will need 4 bottles. one full, empty, ¼ full, and 1/3 full. line the bottles up in this order.
• one at a time, try to flip and land each bottle five times. record the lands only. the person flipping counts the flips, the partner counts and records the lands.
• after one person flips all four bottles five times each, switch.
• once you have both gone, repeat.
• then repeat again.
• by the time you are done, you should have each flipped every water bottle 15 times. total the number of lands of each person for each water bottle

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the research

The research indicates that water - bottles are easiest to flip when between ¼ and ½ full. Completely full and completely empty bottles are difficult to land.

Step2: Evaluate the hypothesis bottles

Among empty, ¼ full, 1/3 full, and completely full bottles, the ¼ full and 1/3 full bottles are in the range mentioned in the research. The 1/3 full bottle is closer to the middle of the ¼ - ½ range. The empty and full bottles are known to be difficult to land.

Answer:

Easiest to land: 1/3 full bottle
Most difficult to land: Completely full bottle and Completely empty bottle
Which bottle does the class believe will be easiest to land: (No data about class belief given, assume based on research) 1/3 full bottle
Which bottle does the class believe will be most difficult to land: (No data about class belief given, assume based on research) Completely full bottle and Completely empty bottle