Physics 1210: College Physics I Unit 6: Conservation of Energy Lab

ACTIVITY 1

Start the simulation and click Pause. Check the buttons for “Potential Energy Reference” and “Grid.” Click and drag the blue dot at the bottom of the track until it reaches the ground (reference line) as shown below. Click and drag to place the skater (mass 75 kg) on the track at the 6 m. 

Click the play button and look at the motion of the skater. Select the correct answer by highlighting it.

Click the “Track Friction” button on the right side of your simulation window. Slide the button for friction to the first line. Run the simulation and observe what happens. Click “Clear Heat” before every run.

Set the coefficient of friction back to zero. Click and drag the blue reference line until it is at a height of 2 m above the ground. Click and drag to place the skater (mass 75 kg) on the track at the 6 m mark (see the image below). Click “Clear Heat” before every run.

ACTIVITY 2

Create an incline as shown in the figure below by clicking and dragging the blue dots on the track. Make sure the height of your track is 4 m and the horizontal distance to the bottom of the track is 6 m (or 6 squares, as shown below). Place the skater at the height of 4 meters (select the zero of the gravitational potential energy as being the ground). Make sure the coefficient of friction for the track is set to “None.” That means that only the track has no friction, but the horizontal surface does have friction.

Click “Clear Heat” before every run. In all calculations take g = 9.81 m/s2.