Energy Lab

Grade 11 Physics
By: Prathibha.A
July 19, 2021
Title Page (C and T)
July 19, 2021

Prathibha Asok Kumar

Energy Lab Report

Introduction
Julius Robert Mayer is the father
of law of conservation of energy.
He discovered this law in 1842. In
its most compact form now it is
called the First Law of
Thermodynamics which states
that “Energy is neither created or
destroyed”.
 Introduction
In this experiment, we will be looking at a ball that becomes a projectile after leaving the ramp it is initially
dropped on (note: its path on the ramp is referred to as ‘Phase A’, and its projectile path, ‘Phase B’. This
means that after leaving the ramp it is technically in free-fall, but has some initial horizontal velocity

The path of a projectile forms the shape of a parabola, In most cases, a projectile is launched at an angle. In
our case,he ball appears to travel exactly horizontally for just a few instants, meaning, it is not being thrown
off at an angle.

When we look at Phase A, remember that there is gravitational potential energy which is transferred to
kinetic energy just when the ball leaves the ramp

Potential energy is the energy stored in an object as a result of its position, arrangement or state.

In this case for example, the higher the ball, the more potential energy. Only the changes in potential energy
can be measured. We will be measuring velocity.

When an object is dropped, or in this case launched off the ramp, the potential energy becomes kinetic
energy

Energy can be lost due to air resistance, friction or other similar forces. In a conservative system, no energy
is lost throughout the motion process. As we do not know of any of the aforementioned forces within our
experiment, we assume we are looking at a conservative system

So in a conservative system, Mechanical energy remains constant

Ei=Ef, or energy in= energy out

Let’s take a look at all the factors affecting this lab, and how it will work.
Testable Question

How does the range d (horizontal displacement) of a projectile motion

depend on the initial height h1 where the ball is launched from a ramp?
Table of Quantities

Quantity Variable Unit Type

Position Vertical y m Controlled

Position Horizontal x m Dependent

Time t s Independent

Velocity v m/s Controlled

Angle Θ/Theta °/degrees Controlled

Table 1. Quantities affecting or being affected by the path of the ball

on the ramp and through the air
Hypothesis
My Hypothesis is that : the higher initial height of the ball, the greater it’s horizontal
displacement will be , due to a greater velocity. The resulting initial height - horizontal
displacement graph will form a pattern in which both values increase for every passing
trial.
Materials
● Videos of the graph
● Diagrams of Graph
● Ramp
● Ball
● Grid
● Blank surface
Procedure
1) A neat area was found. A table was set up and on top of that, a ramp was placed.
2) A white board was placed behind the table, to provide a clear background for the experiment
3) Camera was set at frame of reference which allowed us to see the whole experiment from a distance.
4) A ball was released from five different initial heights onto the ramp, and its path from there to when it touched the ground
was recorded on video and separate graphs for its x and y components were generated (videos 1-10). Horizontal distance
travelled over time was evidently dependent on what was select to be the initial vertical position. All other quantities
naturally took care of horizontal distance as time progressed. (*note, Time and distance were measured through the
generated graphs seen in the videos )
5) A grid of squares of 0.1 m x 0.1 m was edited in to help calibrate the videos
6) All materials (videos, relevant info, pictures etc.) were uploaded to brightspace classroom
7) All content was reviewed
8) Theoretical velocity for each trial was found using energy conservation, with the values of gravity and appropriate initial
height being either known or observed from given info and then inputted into the appropriate equation.
Procedure

11) Experimental horizontal distances were found by observing graphs

and how far ball travelled after it fell off the ramp (listed in figure 18)

12) With data from step 11 and previously found initial heights, a rough
table was made on google docs

13) Table was inserted into google sheets and properly formatted to
make the final copy, table 2

14) Graph 1 was made from this table

15) Tables and graph were inserted into google slides

Observations
Height (trial n X-t graph (Horizontal Y-t graph (Initial Height)
Displacement)

1 Time (0.7 s), X (0.30 m) Time (0.7 s), Y(0.90 m)

2 Time(0.7s), X (0.45 m) Time (0.7 s ), Y (0.95 m)

3 Time (0.7 s), X (0.55 m ) Time (0.7 s ), Y (1.01 m)

4 Time (0.7 s), X (0.7 m) Time (0.7 s ), Y (1.11 m)

5 Time (0.7 s), X (0.8 m) Time (0.7 s ), Y (1.15 m)

Table 2 : Horizontal Displacement and Initial
height of a ball dropped onto a ramp for each trial,
which later went into projectile motion
Data shows a constant increase in horizontal
displacement with increase of the initial height.
The time is constant
 Labelled Diagrams

Initial position of ball Ramp

Initial position of ball when it
Initial leaves the ramp
height

Initial
position of
ball when it Horizontal distance,
hits the included in phase B
Ground Horizontal ground.
Table Displacement
Figure 5: diagram specifying
Figure 4: 2-D diagram of experiment beginnings and ends of phases A and
setup and relevant quantities B
Labelled Diagram
Figure 6: Path of the ball in Trial 1

Path of
Ramp Projectile
Motion

Grids for calibrating

videos
Table to support the
constant height
Plain white surface to
throughout each trial
provide a neat
background for grid

Ball
 Labelled Diagrams

Figure 7 : Path of the ball in trial two Figure 8: Path of the ball in Trial 3
Labelled Diagrams

Figure 9: Path of the ball in Trial 4 Figure 10 : Path of the ball in Trial 5
Graph
Video

Video 1: Footage and Video 2: Footage and

corresponding generated graph corresponding generated graph of
of the X-component the ball’s the Y-component the ball’s path in
path in Trial 1 Trial 1
Video

Video 3: Footage and corresponding Video 4: Footage and corresponding

generated graph of the X-component the generated graph of the Y -component the
ball’s path in Trial 2 ball’s path in Trial 2
Video

Video 6: Footage and corresponding

Video 5: Footage and corresponding
generated graph of the Y-component the ball’s
generated graph of the X-component the
path in Trial 3
ball’s path in Trial 3
Video

Video 7: Footage and corresponding Video 8: Footage and corresponding

generated graph of the X-component the generated graph of the Y-component the ball’s
ball’s path in Trial 4 path in Trial 4
Video

Video 9: Footage and corresponding Video 10: Footage and corresponding

generated graph of the X-component the generated graph of the Y-component the ball’s
ball’s path in Trial 5 path in Trial 5
Analysis
To begin with, if any object of mass falls under gravity from a height, then the change in potential energy ΔEp=
mgΔh (1).

Therefore, Δh will be the change in height of the object. Since the ramp is considered frictionless, the potential
energy will be converted to kinetic energy and the mass(m) will move with velocity (v) and into kinetic energy with
the equation,

Ek = ½ mv2(2).

If a mass falls under gravitational acceleration from rest at a height then the time taken to touch the ground is t and
the relation between them is h=½ gt2 (3).

If v is uniform velocity then the travelled distance at time t is

S = vt (4)
Analysis
According to energy conservation for, an isolated system, the total energy is always
conserved. The mass of the body is m, and the gravitational acceleration and vertical
height of the ramp h1 and height of the ramps bottom ground is h2.
The potential energy difference is ΔEp= mgh1. And as the surfaces are frictionless the
charge in potential energy will be converted to kinetic energy. Let velocity of body be v so
: mgh1= ½ mv2
: v = √2gh1 (i)
Application -Analysis
Now let the time taken to touch the ground be t and height be h2. From equation 3 we get :
h2= ½ gt2 as mass is initially at rest.
∴ t = √2h2/g (ii)
As the gravitational acceleration is along the vertical and velocity along the horizontal , there is no
force acting on the object along the horizontal also neglecting the air resistance. So the horizontal
velocity will remain constant with respect to time and the velocity will be uniformal. So the
horizontal displacement
d=vt, including, v = √2gh1 and t = √2h2/g we get
d = √2gh1 x √2h2/g = {2gh1 x 2h2/g}½
∴ d= 2√h1h2
Application -Analysis
The horizontal displacement of the projectile
motion
d = (2√h2)√h1
If the height h2 is kept constant, then the horizontal
displacement is proportional to the square root of
the initial height h1, where the ball is launched from
a ramp.
When h2 is constant,
d ∝ √h1
These are my experimental calculations for
trial number one according to the theory I have
explained.
Application/Analysis

This is my percent error

calculation for trial
number one
Errors

Description of Error Type of Error Solution/Reduction of Effect

The camera wasn’t exactly placed on Systematic Inquire video taker about whether
the floor, but more so at an angle they have alternate footage at a better
above the ground. This caused the grid angle.
to be a bit out-of-proportion when
taking into consideration the ideal
perspective of the ball’s path. This
would cause values to increase, as
there seems to be an extra row in the
grid- where the ball comes into
contact with the ground - after the
point where the ground actually starts.
Errors
Description of Error Type of Error Solution/Reduction of Effect

Percent errors. Due to theoretical Systematic Re-check measurements and

and expected values being very formulas multiple times. If results
different from one another, percent remain the same, inquire teacher
errors were extremely high (albeit all about the issue and work on taking
values showing appropriate trend of steps to find an appropriate solution
velocity, initial height and horizontal with their help
displacement increasing together).
This makes the theoretical values
much larger than what their
experimental counterparts actually
seem to be .

Many large values were rounded off, systematic Use google sheets algebraic
potentially throwing calculations off algorithm to
by a bit. This made most values add/subtract/multiply/divide values
larger than they actually are, but more accurately
others smaller
Conclusion
To conclude, My hypothesis stated that, “the higher the initial height of the ball, the greater it’s horizontal displacement will be , due to a greater velocity.
The resulting initial height - horizontal displacement graph will form a pattern in which both values increase for every passing trial.

I was successfully able to verify this through my calculations which proved that the higher the initial height, the higher the velocities (whether they be
experimental or theoretical) for an object.This also leads to a greater horizontal displacement (once again, whether theoretical or experimental), as seen in
the calculations. This can also be seen in the increasing values of the observed quantities for each trial in table as well as the graph.

The graph ended up yielding the predicted result, with its trendline showing a steadily increasing relationship between velocity, initial height and
horizontal displacement. This is also clearly seen in the videos and diagrams provided for the lab.

Errors included difficulty determining exact scale for the experiment due to the provided videos being recorded at an angle above the ground, uncertainty
about the presences of certain forces such as friction, the need to round values potentially swaying final results away from precision and percent error.

Furthermore examples of the same is a cliff. An object dropped at a particular height from the cliff creates a projectile motion with the height representing
potential energy (mgh) and the movement of the ball representing kinetic energy(½ mv2) with the velocity v, and mass m.