Roller Coaster Project

Ball Drop Lab

we started this unit with a lab to inform us and get us prepared to find all the data necessary for the project.

Clear Paragraph from the lab:

From collecting data and experimenting we are able to find that as the object is falling the potential energy is being conserved while it transfers into thermal and kinetic energy. Our experiment of dropping the ball, calculating for velocity through different points of time and distances of the drop. We were then able to measure for the different energies of the ball and the transfer of energy throughout the drop, to prove how energy is conserved. We used meter sticks, timer, video camera, the steel ball we used to drop, and tape. Using the meter sticks stacked ontop of eachother and used the tape to secure them and mark four points where we would take our data. Using phones for timing and filming we were able to analyze the videos and find our different data points. We filmed three different trials to find the averages of data in the end. In each trial, separate data points were found at the previously marked points, each 0.5m of distance between. Through these trials we were able to find the velocity of the ball at each different point.Through the velocity we were able to find kinetic and potential energy. There is also one other energy that is important to our data, thermal energy. Our system had shown a starting average potential energy at 10.09 joules with 0 joules of kinetic and thermal energy. Though in the middle of our drop at 1 meter, we found 5.05 joules of potential energy, 0.0045 joules of thermal energy, and 3.85 joules of kinetic energy. In comparison we had found at the end of the drop the ball had 0 potential energy, 0.0127 joules of thermal energy, and 10.91 joules of kinetic energy. Our data show that as the ball travels down the kinetic energy increases while the potential energy increases. This shows us the transfer of energy in the ball during the fall. We are able to show this transfer of energy as well as how the energy isn’t lost nor created. Our percentage error is 11.73% in the middle of the drop. This could be coming from human error or missed calculations from said human error. These errors may have led to any of the irregularities in our data and errors. Improving these mistakes and comparing our data would lead us to have more accuracy in the future.Our data shows an error percentage at about 16% at 1.5 m of the drop, about 11% for 1m of the drop, and about 32% at the very bottom when the ball had hit the ground. This type of evidence shows just how much we were off in our calculations for data. Though much of this could come from human error in the experiment we could improve the experiment by making it more mechanical and precise.

Content:

Energy: energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. For this project energy was our main topic for the unit so we focused on learning all about it and the types of energy.

Conservation Of Energy: In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant; it is said to be conserved over time. During this project our objective was to prove how the energy of the car-track system was conserved.

System: A system is a portion of the universe that has been chosen for studying the changes that take place within it in response to varying conditions. We created a system for the project and determined if it was closed or open and the energy of it.

Closed Sytem: A physical system that doesn't exchange any matter with its surroundings and isn't subject to any force whose source is external to the system. For the project we created a closed system to prove the conservation of energy.

Isolated System: An isolated system in physics is a system that has no net external force.

Open System: An open system refers to exchanges of energy, charge, etc with the object(s) surroundings.

Work: In physics, work is the energy transferred to or from an object via the application of force along a displacement.

Gravitational Potential Energy: Gravitational energy or gravitational potential energy is the potential energy a massive object has in relation to another massive object due to gravity. We calculated the potential energy due to gravity for the car moving down the slope of the track and used this data to make sure the energy was conserved.

Spring Potential Energy: It is the energy, stored in a compressible or stretchable object like a spring or rubber band or molecule. Using the kickstarter we found the energy being added to the car by it, the spring potential energy. Then adding this energy to the gravitational we found the starting energy of the car-track system.

Kinetic Energy: In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. We also calculated for the kinetic energy of the car-track system as it moved through the track.

Thermal Energy: The thermal energy of an object is the energy contained in the motion and vibration of its molecules. Energy from the system is lost due to thermal energy. We calculated the thermal energy that the system was losing due to friction, etc. Including this into the project data to show and loss of energy towards the system.

Circular Motion: In physics, circular motion is a movement of an object along the circumference of a circle or rotation along a circular path. We added circular motion to the track with the loop de loop and calculated the energy while the car moves in a circle.

Mechanical Energy: In physics, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy. Our mechanical energy was calculated throughout the project and we showed how all of this energy combined was conserved.

Kickstarter: The kickstarter is what we used to give the car some spring potential energy at the beginning of the track. The kickstarter was used at the beginning of the track to give the car more starting speed and energy througout the track.

Friction: Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. The force of friction was calculated to determine how much energy was lost to thermal.

Joules: The SI unit of work or energy, equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves one meter in the direction of action of the force. Our calculations and data for energy are all in Joules for this project.

Elastic: In physics, elasticity is the ability of a body to resist a distorting influence and to return to its original size and shape when that influence or force is removed. We didn't have any collisions in this project except the kickstarter on the car, which was not elastic.

Inelastic: An inelastic collision is a collision in which there is a loss of kinetic energy. The kickstarter on the car collision was inelastic for this project.

Energy Transfer: The conversion of one form of energy into another, or the movement of energy from one place to another. We calculated for the transfer of energies at different point of the car on the track, in the end we showed how the energies transfered but remained conserved.