Name: Kenneth Bagayas, Paris Grp No.

2 Grp Name
Carbonell

PHYS 10.02 Section D-Q4 Date performed: Date Submitted:

Conservation of
Energy

Introduction:

Kinetic energy (KE) is associated with motion of objects, whereas gravitational potential
energy (GPE) is associated with position of objects relative to a reference point (e.g.
surface of the Earth). Mathematically, these forms of energy are given as:

Mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic and potential energy. In the absence of any
resistance (e.g. friction) the mechanical energy of a system remains constant or is always
conserved. Energy, however, can change from one form to another.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this activity the students are expected to

● Explain the conservation of mechanical energy concept using kinetic energy (KE) and
gravitational potential energy (GPE).
● Describe how the energy bar relates to position and speed.
● Explain how changing the skater mass affects energy.
● Explain how changing the track friction affects energy.
● Predict position or estimate speed from energy bar.
● Design a skate park using the concepts of mechanical energy and energy
conservation.
Part I. Introduction

a. Click on Bar Graph and Grid. Drag the skater to any height, e.g. 4 meters, then release.
1. How does the kinetic energy of the skater change? (2 points)
The skater’s kinetic energy rises as he skates downward and lowers when he
skates upwards the opposite side of the ramp.

2. How does the potential energy of the skater change? (2 points)

The skater’s potential energy rises as he skates upwards the opposite side of the
ramp and lowers as he skates downwards.

3. Compare the kinetic and potential energies of the skater at the maximum and
minimum positions. (2 points)

At the highest point (maximum position) where the skater is placed, it is where
maximum potential energy is present but no kinetic energy present. While at the
lowest point (minimum position) on the ramp, it is where maximum kinetic energy
is present but no potential energy present.

4. What happens to the total energy of the skater? (2 points)

The total energy of the skater remains constant throughout the simulation because
of the mere changing of one form of energy to another, in this case from potential to
kinetic energy or vice versa.

b. Change (increase/decrease) the Mass of the skater.

5. How does mass affect energy? Explain your observation. (2 points)
The mass of the skater is proportional to his total amount of energy. At the starting
point where the skater is initially placed, there is more potential energy at the
starting point which results in the increase in kinetic energy as well. This means that
the skater has more total energy to work with than a skater of less mass. The skater
of less mass has less total energy compared to the skater with more mass.

c. Change (increase/decrease) the height of the skater.

6. How does height affect energy and speed? Explain your observation. (2 points)
The higher the height, the more potential energy an object has. The skater reaches
faster maximum speeds before reaching the lowest point of the ramp compared to
skaters from lower heights because it travels with the same acceleration but for a
longer distance and time. With that said, the height is directly proportional to the
 total energy of the skater, which also affects the speed--skater placed at a more
elevated height results in an increase in maximum speed as well.

d. Similarly, select the third track. Drag the skater to the same height, as in part (a), then
release. Take note of the maximum position reached by the skater. Compare this with
that of the first track.
7. What do you observe? Explain why. (3 points)
The simulation demonstrates how the skater reaches the same maximum position
on the other side as illustrated by the grids. For both tracks, when the skater is
released at 4 meters, the skater reaches the maximum position of 4 meters as well
on the other side when the skater is released.
The starting potential energy was the same as the first track. Although having an
extra curve, the peak potential energy is the same on both sides. While at the peak,
kinetic energy is at the lowest point of the ramp.The maximum height on both sides
is the same as well on both sides. This is because of the change in form of
energies, where potential energy was able to become kinetic energy (and vice
versa) without any loss of total energy and without the effects of friction. The total
energy was balanced by these two energies alone.

Part II. Friction

a. Click on Bar Graph and Grid. Place the skater at some height, e.g. 4 m. Notice
the initial total energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and thermal energy.
8. How does the total energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and thermal energy
change with time? Explain your observation. (3 points)
The total energy of the skater remains constant, however the kinetic, potential,
and thermal energies change. The sum of the kinetic energy and potential
energy of what is called mechanical energy slowly decreases as the thermal
energy caused by friction increases as the skater comes to a rest. This is
because the mechanical energy is inversely proportional to the thermal thermal
energy as time passes.
b. Change (increase/decrease) the Mass of the skater and place him at the same
height. Notice again the time taken by the skater to come to rest.
9. What change do you observe in the amount of total energy and thermal energy?
(2 points)
The mass of the skater is directly proportional to the total energy and thermal
energy of the skater. As the mass increases, both energies increase in amount,
and as the mass decreases, so does both energies decrease.

c. Change (increase/decrease) the value of Friction.

10. How does friction affect the time it takes the skater to stop? (2 points)
The amount of friction present is inversely proportional to the time it takes for the
skater to come to rest. As the amount of friction increases, the shorter time it takes
for the skater to stop. On the other hand, as the amount of friction gets closer to
having none, the time it takes for the skater to stop also approaches infinity.

Part III. Playground

a. Make your own track. Observe the change in energy and speed for different tracks
with different slopes. (Include a screen capture of the actual set-up.)
11. As the slope of the track changes, how does the speed change? (3 points)
 A. Frictionless Track

A. Frictionless Track
Throughout the whole simulation, the total energy of the skater remains constant, but
changes in forms of energies, particularly from potential energy to kinetic energy and vice
versa when slopes change (or when skater moves upward and downward). On one hand,
when the slope is negative (moving downward), the skater’s kinetic energy increases and so
does his speed, but his potential energy decreases. On the other hand, when the slope is
positive (moving upward), the skater’s potential energy increases but both kinetic energy and
speed decreases.

B. Track with Friction

B. Track with Friction
Compared with a frictionless track, thermal energy is present when the skater uses a track
with friction, but total energy of the skater still remains constant. The simulation demonstrates
how thermal energy increases when the slope increases (when skater moves upward), but
unlike potential and kinetic energies, thermal energy does not decrease. For that reason, the
increasing thermal energy leaves less room for the exchange in potential and kinetic
energies, especially because total energy of the skater remains constant. However, just like
the frictionless track, there is a change in forms of energies, both from potential energy to
kinetic energy and from potential energy to kinetic energy when slopes change (or when
skater moves upward and downward). Similar to a frictionless track, when the slope is
negative (moving downward), the skater’s kinetic energy increases and so does his speed,
but his potential energy decreases. And when the slope is positive (moving upward), the
skater’s potential energy increases but both kinetic energy and speed decreases.
 Evaluate!

12. Suppose you have the three frictionless track options shown below. If you want to
have the maximum speed upon reaching the bottom of the track, which one will
you choose? Explain. (5 points)

Using the simulation to approximately make the track, it shows that all tracks have
nearly the same final and maximum speed. Moreover, also with using the formula
of final velocity which is V𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 = V𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 + (acceleration)(time), it shows the initial
velocity is equal to 0 and the acceleration is due to gravity, which makes
acceleration constant. This shows that time is a factor that affects the final velocity.
If the skater moves along the track with time that is more or less the same for all
three tracks, this also proves that the maximum speed obtained by the skater is
equal for all three tracks. These show that using all three tracks will obtain equal
maximum speed.