Physics for Engineers – Laboratory

Conservation of Energy
OBJECTIVE: To learn about transformation of energy from kinetic energy to potential to thermal energy.

THEORY: Read theory here:

https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/7-6-conservation-of-energy
PROCEDURE:

FRICTIONLESS | CONSTANT MASS

1. Go to :https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/energy-skate-park-basics
2. Click ENERGY SKATE PARK: BASIC and choose PLAYGROUND
3. Check the tick box of speed and bar graph while setting the friction bar to none.
4. In the bottom, drag the 3-red-dot and create your desired track.
5. Drag and drop the man to the top of the track, observe the bar graph and take note how it went through.

DOCUMENTATION:

FRICTIONLESS | small/large MASS

1. Repeat procedure 3-4.

2. Change the mass of the skater to small by dragging the mass indicator bar.
3. Drag and drop the man to the top of the track and observe the bar graph and take note how it went
through.
4. Change the mass to large and repeat step 3

DOCUMENTATION
QUESTIONS: (explain elaborately)

1. Did the mass play an important role in conservation of energy?

- Although the mass does not play a role in the conservation of energy, it does affect how much
potential energy there will be that will eventually be converted into kinetic energy. The more the
mass the greater the amount of potential energy, kinetic energy, and total energy there will be in that
system.
2. At which point do you think has the maximum potential energy and kinetic energy?
- Maximum Potential Energy is at the point where the skater is at top of the track, because when it is at
the top of the track it will have reached its highest height making that point to be where Maximum
potential energy is, for the higher the height the higher the potential energy. While its Maximum
Kinetic Energy will be when it is at the bottom of the track, it is because at the bottom will be where
skater’s velocity will at its highest making the kinetic energy to also be at its highest.
3. Is there thermal energy in this frictionless set up?
- There is no thermal energy in this frictionless setup because there is little to no interaction between
the surface and skater causing it to not produce any thermal energy at all.

WITH FRICTION | CONSTANT MASS

1. Check the tick box of speed and bar graph
2. In the bottom, drag the 3-red-dot and create your desired track.
3. Adjust the friction to anywhere in the bar.
4. Drag and drop the man to the top of the track, observe the bar graph and take note how it went through.

DOCUMENTATION

WITH FRICTION | small/large MASS

1. Check the tick box of speed and bar graph

2. In the bottom, drag the 3-red-dot and create your desired track.
3. Utilize the same friction (as with friction with constant mass)
4. Change the mass of the skater to small by dragging the indicator bar.
5. Drag and drop the man to the top of the track, observe the bar graph and take note how it went through.
6. Change the mass of the skater to large and repeat step 5.

DOCUMENTATION
QUESTIONS: (explain elaborately)

1. Did the mass play an important role in conservation of energy?

- Although the mass does not play a role in the conservation of energy, it does affect how much
potential energy there will be that will eventually be converted into kinetic energy. The more the
mass the greater the amount of potential energy, kinetic energy, and total energy there will be in that
system.
2. At which point do you think has the maximum potential energy and kinetic energy?
- Maximum Potential Energy is at the point where the skater is at top of the track, because when it is at
the top of the track it will have reached its highest height making that point to be where Maximum
potential energy is, for the higher the height the higher the potential energy. While its Maximum
Kinetic Energy will be when it is at the bottom of the track, it is because at the bottom will be where
skater’s velocity will at its highest making the kinetic energy to also be at its highest.
3. Is there thermal energy in this set up?
- There is thermal energy in this setup because there is a lot of interaction between the surface and
skater causing it produce lots of thermal energy.
4. What happen if you increase the friction?
- Increasing the friction cause the setup to conserve less energy, due to friction being a non-
conservative force it will greatly reduce the amount of energy conserved. Because the greater the
friction the more interaction that will happen between the skater and track and there will be a
greater force acting against the skater. The greater the interaction between them the greater the
thermal energy or heat will be produced.

CONCLUSION:

So therefore, friction is a very significant factor when it comes to motion, total energy and
conservation of energy. When friction is added to the system the skater speed is lesser than when there
was no friction. And this also applies to the total energy there is lesser energy when there is friction
compared to the frictionless setup, meaning lesser energy conserved. Also because of friction there is
added production of heat energy due to the increased interaction between the track and the skater.
Another thing to mention is the significance of the Mass, although mass does not contribute to the
conservation of energy it does make the total energies higher.