IB Energy Lab of your own design

IB Physics

Energy-Force Design Lab

You will gather data in groups of 2-6, and write the lab up individually.  You will choose as a group an independent (manipulated) and dependent (measured) variable, gather data, average it, and graph it, and write a conclusion.

Directions

1.  Pick an independent (manipulated) and dependent (measured) variable, and gather data for 8-12 variations of your independent variable, and at least 3 trials of each variation.

2.  Average your trials, and make a graph where the dependent is the y axis, and the independent the x

3.  Write an appropriate method:

Stating the problem and listing the variables

State the problem concisely, and list the independent, dependent and controlled variables.  Independent variables (IV) are the ones you manipulate, dependent (DV) are the variables you measure, and controls are the things that stay constant.  Controlled variables are not objects, they need to be quantities only, just like the IV and DV.

Method for control of variables

Explain how you will manipulate the independent variable, measure the dependent, and make sure that the controlled variables don’t change.  Draw a diagram, include measurements of anything that matters, tell what equipment and materials you used, and give a step by step description of what you did to actually gather the data.

Method for collecting sufficient data

State which variations of the independent variable you chose, and explain why you chose the variations and number of trials that you did. (Variations are like 5o, 10o, 15o, 20o, 25o, etc, and trials are repetitions of the same thing) You need to do a sufficient number of variations (6?, 12?) of the independent variable, do an adequate number of trials (3?) of each variation, and the variations should be if possible well distributed throughout the possible range of variations. 

4.  Write a conclusion for your lab:

a.   Summarize the trend you see in the data and try to explain it if you can using your by now vast knowledge of Physics.

b.  List the sources of error, and describe what effect they would have on the data

c.   Describe how you could eliminate or mitigate these sources of error