ELA Component

The project i picked was the Dropper Popper because, the science behind it is simple,easy to comprehend and most people know about it. Basically the project is finding out why the shape and the types of energy matter for the bounce to be higher than its originally dropped height. The main key words for the project are potential energy, kinetic energy and elastic potential energy(energy store in the shape).I will conduct three trials the first one will be 1 ft, the second trial would be 2 ft, the third trial will be 4 ft above the table while conducting i will be writing the result down to show the difference in height. The project i will be doing will be the journal entries because, it will keep me in track of what steps i have done along with the results of those steps.

JOURNAL #1 12/5/13

The driving question of the dropper popper is, why does the toy bounce higher than from where it has been dropped?. For the experiment you will need a dropper popper,ruler,flat surface and for safety wear goggles.The research for the dropper popper has led me to study the different types of energy which include;potential,kinetic,mechanical and elastic, all of these have something in common which is transformation. The energy can be transferred in many ways whether is kinetic to potential or elastic to mechanical or kinetic to elastic all the depends on the action that is being preformed. For the purpose of this experiment we need to understand the law of conservation of energy which states that energy can not be created or destroyed therefore what makes the change in the forms of energy has to be understood in detail.With this already known i plan to try the experiment more than one time to show that energy has and will always be there, in this case the dropper starts with potential energy we are not creating the type of energy it was already there. Another important thing that we have to take in consideration is the certain height the dropper is dropped from , it should be not so low to the point where the change will not be seen but also not so high where the change will be harder to control.

JOURNAL #2 12/6/13

I have found various type of energy transformations and they all preform work whether its simply moving an object to changing the rate of speed. One factor that has a big affect on this experiment will be the elastic energy that the dropper has, this type changes the shape and it gives the dropper a stronger kinetic energy. The shape the dropper takes when its turn inside out allows for the dropper to store elastic energy which is released when it hits the ground. Energy is the main motor that drives the experiment without any form of energy nothing would be able to happen no bounce and no action and reaction effect also if the dropper could not store elastic energy there would not be the effect of it bouncing higher than the height it was dropped. Although not much work is require to make the action take place the amount of energy varies with the way the dropper is for example if it was not dropped inside out there would not be elastic energy what so ever and if the ball was not rubber it would be less bouncy. The material of the dropper also has a big impact on what forces can take place and how much height it can reach however no matter what the dropper overcomes the laws of physics.

JOURNAL #3 12/7/13

The simpleness of this project made it hard for me to find much information about it because it sound like the information is being repeated over and over again. However there is certain rules that apply to the types of energy. One of the rules include Hook`s law which states that the force required to stretch a spring is directly proportionally with the stretch, kinetic energy which is worked needed to move an object at high,low and constant velocity.Potential energy is the amount that can be stored in an object which can be released when a force affects it and it can be transferred. Along with this the experiment is basic,simple and fun, it does not require work and it shows physics laws can be broken. The dropper popper is a perfect way to show the different kind of energy and energy transformations all in one with no trouble.

JOURNAL 4 12/9/13

I would revise the experiment by adding more objects that the height can be measured and can be recorded on a cart or graph. For example i would want to use a rubber ball to see if the energy stored in the ball has or creates a certain effect on how high the dropper and the ball can go. Another object i would use is a coin because there is no elastic energy on it however there is potential energy which is affected by any other energy which causes movement. A pencil could also be measured as well to observe if the shape of the object matters or not . Another revision that i would do would be something heavier because i do believe that the weight does matter to how high it can bounce, in other words something heavier should not bounce the same as a light object. A hypothesis i have can also be tested and research and will give the experiment more topics to be research and better understood. Those suggestion in my opinion make the experiment be viewed in more than one perspective.

JOURNAL 5 12/12/13

The project itself was fun and super interesting because something so simple can have physics behind it and its simple to understand and take in. Physics does not have to be something super complicated with a lot of math involve, it can be just be understanding energy and knowing what each type can do. Along with being easy the project did not confused me at all, all i had to do was take what i already knew and think of how energy was transformed and into what. This also made me learn more about transformation and know that there is many ways that energy can be transferred. It lead me to learn about mechanical,elastic and inelastic collisions that happen and energy is moved from one to another . The contact between the object is also another factor that can be understood in physics that directly correlate to forms of energy.

JOURNAL 6 12/14/13

The results i got from the project made happy because it worked and it did not feel like a lot of work . The dropper did bounce higher than the height it was dropped more than one time with an increase in the height each time. I also tried the experiment with different types of surfaces and the result was the same except that on carpet more work was required. An interesting discovery i made while doing the experiment is that the more work and force on the dropper makes it bounce faster than when simply being dropped from a certain height. Another interesting discovery is that the angle from where it is dropped matters and affects the bounce very much, at times it does bounce higher than the starting height and other times it does not bounce higher. My next time i will try to figure out why the angle matters so much and what angle is the best for the dropper to bounce twice its original height.