EXPERIMENT 3

ENERGY CONSERVATION

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this experiment, students should be able to understand the

concept of conservation of energy and the application.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The energy of body is a measure of its capability for doing work. Energy exists in
a variety of forms but it cannot be created or destroyed by human. Energy can
only be transformed. Conservation of energy states that during the motion the
sum of the particle’s kinetic and potential energy remains constant. For this to
occur, kinetic energy must be transformed into potential energy, and vice versa.
The conservation of energy equation is used to solve problem involving velocity,
displacement and conservative forces system.

3.2 THEORY

Energy exists in a variety of forms but it cannot be created or destroyed. Energy

can only be transformed. When an engineer refers to losses in energy he is only
applying that it is not doing useful work. Because there are ‘losses’ in any
machine the useful energy given out is always less than the energy put in. In
other words:

Input Energy = Useful Energy + Useless Energy

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Or to put it more technically:
Input Energy = Output Energy + Losses

There are two types of energy which are called Potential and Kinetic. Potential
Energy (PE) is the amount of work available in a given body at rest. A weight
raised above some datum level is said to possess potential energy, since it is
able to do work in falling to the datum level. Kinetic Energy (KE) is the amount of
work processed or stored by a moving body. If the weight described above is
allowed to fall freely to the datum level all the potential energy will be
transformed to an equal quantity of Kinetic energy provided the falling weight
encounters no resistance.

Therefore if a weight (W) is raised through the distance (H1) the work available
is equal to W × H1, and this amount of energy was given up as the weight fell.
See Fig. 1.

PE (Initial) = W x H1……………………...…………………………..(2)

where, W = weight and H = height of body from datum.

During the test weight (W) ascended to the height (H2). At this final position it
again possesses Potential Energy. Therefore:

PE (Initial) = W x H2……………………...…………………………..(3)
Losses in PE = (W x H1) – (W x H2)……………………..…………(4)

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 In practical
Total Energyin = Total Energyout + Energyloss
PEinitial = PEfinal + PEloss
PEloss = PEinitial – PEfinal

Figure 1: Energy Loss Diagram

3.3 ADDITIONAL THEORY

(10 marks)
3.4 OBJECTIVES

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 (5 marks)
3.5 APPARATUS
Table 1: Energy Conservation Equipment List.
No Apparatus Quantity
1 Plummet arm with nut 1
2 Spring 1
3 ‘S’ hook 1
4 Weight hook 1
5 Sets of weights 1

Figure 1 : Experiment Setup

3.6 PROCEDURES

1. Set up the panel board diagram as shown in Figure 1.

2. Determine the suitable height for H1. Record the value of H1. Ensure the
lowest position for weight hook exactly level with the bottom edge of the
panel.
3. Place a load of 100g to the weight hook. Record the total load, W.

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 4. While weight hook lifts the load, be careful and mark the level of H2 at the
panel board.
5. Measure the maximum height and record H2.
6. Repeat procedure 2 to 5 using different load, 200g, 300g, 400g and 500g.

3.7 RESULTS
Table 2: Experimental Result
Mass Weight Height Potential Energy Energy
Initial Final Initial Final
Loss
m W H1 H2 PE1 = WH1 PE2 = WH2 WH1 – WH2
(g) (N) (m) (m) (Nm) (Nm) (Nm)
100
200
300
400
500

APPROVED BY

(15 marks)
3.8 OBSERVATIONS

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 (10 marks)

3.9 CALCULATION
1. Calculate Potential Energy and Energy Losses

(10 marks)
3.10 DISCUSSIONS
1. Plot the graph of Load, W against Energy Loss, WH 1−WH2 and discuss
the graph.

(5 marks)

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2. Plot a graph of Load, W against Height, H 2 and discuss the graph.

(5 marks)

3. Judging from H1 and H2, approximately what proportion of the energy had
transformed, stored and given back? Discuss.

(3 marks)

4. Did the losses increase as the load increased? Discuss.

(2 marks)

3.11 QUESTIONS
1. Suggest some causes for the losses in Potential Energy.

(8 marks)

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2. Which was responsible for storing and giving back the energy, the spring
or the weight?

(7 marks)

3.12 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

Deduce conclusions from the experiment. Please comment on your
experimental work in terms of achievement, problems faced throughout the
experiment and suggest recommendation for improvement.

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 (15 marks)
3.13 REFERENCES

(5 marks)

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