Experiment Of The Week Reflex Time

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Dec 19, 2007 Reflex Time

For this week's experiment, we are going to take a test.  This is not a test that you study for.  Instead, we will test your reaction time.  Imagine that you are drinking a glass of water.  You take a swallow, and then you place the glass on the table.  If someone bumps the table and the glass begins to tip, you would try to catch it before it spilled.  There is a very small time between the point that you see the glass falling and when your hand starts to move to the glass.  This is the time that it takes for your brain to recognize what is happening and send a message to tell your hand to move.  That is reaction time.  To measure your reaction time, you will need:

a yard stick or meter stick
a friend

Have your friend hold the yard stick by the end with the highest numbers, with the other end hangs downward.  Place your hand at the bottom of the yard stick, with your forefinger on one side and your thumb on the other.  At an unexpected moment, your friend will drop the stick and you will catch it by closing your finger and thumb.  Notice how far the stick has fallen before you caught it.  That is why we used the measuring stick.  It is marked in inches (or centimeters), so we can tell exactly how far it fell before you caught it.  

To do this scientifically, you should repeat this experiment several times and compare your results.  Remember that you are not trying to "win" or beat your record.  Don't try to anticipate when the stick will fall.  Wait until you see it moving before you grab it.  You might also try testing to see if your reaction time changes.  Are you slower when you first wake up?  Does loud music make a difference?  One source suggests that if the light is dim, you reaction time will be slower.  Try it and see.

Reaction time is very important to us.  The driver of a car depends on reaction time to be able to hit the brakes quickly if the car ahead suddenly stops.  If you play video games, you depend on reaction time to make it to the next level successfully.  A quick reaction time can even save a mess from that tipping glass of water, but stay with the measuring stick for your tests.  It is a lot less messy.

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