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Alison Whitney October 27, 2023
Group Members: Nick Tinglof, Rook Bergeron
Background: Energy is a concept that humans use every day. Energy allows us to run, jump, and think. It defines the amount of movement of all of the objects around us too. In Physics, however, energy is defined as the ability of an object to do work. There are two types of energy; kinetic and potential. Potential energy is the ability of an object to do something in the future, that energy is stored inside the object. For example gravitational potential energy is the energy that an object in the air stores that would be converted if it fell from its position in the air. Similarly, the spring potential energy is the energy that an object stores that would be converted if it was released from the spring. Kinetic energy on the other hand is the energy that an object is using to complete the given motion or actions and it is dependant on both the size of the object and the velocity at which the object is moving.
There are also a few laws that describe how energy behaves. Most importantly there is the law of the conservation of energy that says that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted between forms. This law is extremely important because in conserved systems where minimal energy is lost to the outside environment, this law can be used to understand how the potential and kinetic energies of an object change over the course of a scenario.
This lab utilized three separate experiments to practice calculating five different types of energy: gravitational potential energy, spring potential energy, kinetic energy, dietary energy, and the law of conserved energy. Each experiment was designed with some of these energies in mind and they are described below.
Experiment 1: gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, conservation of energy
Methods:
A plastic ramp was set up with a height of 50 cm at the peak.
A small ball was released from rest at the top of the ramp.
The gravitational potential energy of the ball at the top of the ramp was represented by the equation: Ug = mgh
The law of conserved energy indicated that the gravitational energy at the top of the ramp was converted to kinetic energy by the time the ball reaches the bottom of the ramp.
The kinetic energy of the ball at the bottom of the ramp then used to calculate the velocity the ball reaches with the equation: KE = 1/2 m v^2
Results:
The velocity the ball reached at the bottom of the ramp was 3.13 m/s.
A video recording of the ball traveling down the ramp for experiment 1
Experiment 2: spring potential energy
Methods:
A spring was hung from a bar and the length was measured.
A 300 g weight was hung from the spring and the length was measured again.
The spring coefficient was calculated with the equation: -k = mg / change in spring length
Results:
The spring coefficient was determined to be 117.6.
The spring before the 0.3 kg weight was added
The spring before the 0.3 kg weight was added
The spring after the 0.3 kg weight was added
The spring after the 0.3 kg weight was added
Experiment 3: dietary energy
Methods:
The experimental food was selected to be TGI Friday's jalepeno poppers that has 210 dietary calories per serving.
The amount of energy in one serving of the jalepeno poppers was calculated with the equation: dietary calories x 4184 = joules of energy.
Results:
It was determined that the jalepeno poppers contained 878640 J of energy.
Discussion: This series of experiments attempted to use various types of energy to better understand and calculate easily, how objects interact with the world. Experiment 1 utilized the conservation of energy, gravitational potential energy, and kinetic energy to calculate the velocity of a ball as it rolled down a ramp. Experiment 2 featured adding weights to a spring to calculate the spring coefficient using the potential spring energy formula. Finally, experiment 3 calculated the amount of energy in a serving of jalepeno poppers using the dietary calories listed on the packaging.
In addition to using the experiments to practice energy calculations in "real world" settings, one of the goals of the experiment was to find ways to make this information accessible to everyone, namely through interactive exhibits. For experiment 1, the experimental set up could be modified into a ramp in a display that can easily be raised and lowered with a crank that is accessible to children. The participants can then hit a button to release a ball on the top of the ramp and there is a display that "reads" how fast the ball was moving at the bottom of the ramp. In actuality, the display would be programmed with the equation used for this experiment that varies only by the height the ramp is set to. For the children however, they then get to learn how gravitational potential energy at the top of the ramp interacts with the kinetic energy at the bottom of the ramp by changing the height and monitoring the speed of the ball.
Experiment 2 could be turned into an interative display with a series of large springs hanging from the ceiling of varying strengths with seats (like for a swing) attached to the bottom. The participants can move down the line of springs and sit on the seat to feel the strength of each spring. The goal is for the children to learn about how even when the same force is applied (i.e. their weight), the various springs will react with different changes in length depending on the spring coefficient. The seats also must be constructed in a way that is safe and accessible for all children regardless of physical or mental abilities, or for those who use mobility aids such as wheelchairs.
Finally, experiment 3 could become a grocery store play area set up with a variety of felt produce and snacks, as well as a check out. Children can collect the food in little carts that they are interested in learning about. Then, at the checkout they can scan the food item and the screen will let them know how much energy they recieve from that food item. Along the walls there will displays as to how much energy on average people require for activities (i.e. jumping, walking, sleeping, swimming, etc.). The hope is that the participants can learn about dietary energy in the context of activities they may use on a daily basis and common foods they may eat regularly.
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