Download Conservation of Mechanical Energy Lab File

Conservation of Mechanical Energy Lab
8th Grade PSI Science
Name ____________________________________
Score ____________/ 27
Materials:


Computer
Red and Blue Color Pencils
Procedure:
1. Go to the following website:
http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/mck05_int_rollercoaster/ . A screen will appear
similar to the picture below.
2. Click on the step button. Numbers will appear on the screen and the roller coaster car will
move to Location 1: top of the first hill.
3. Record the velocity of the car and fill in the pie graph in your data table to represent how
much of the Mechanical Energy is Kinetic Energy and Gravitational Potential Energy.
4. Click on the step button. The car will move to Location 2: the bottom of the first Hill.
Record the velocity of the car and fill in the pie graph in your data table.
5. Continue hitting the step button and recording the data for each of the six locations.
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8th Grade PSI
Energy of Objects in Motion
Data Table:
Location Number
Description of
Location
Car’s Velocity
(m/s)
Percentage of
Mechanical Energy
1
2
3
4
5
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8th Grade PSI
Energy of Objects in Motion
6
Kinetic Energy
Potential Energy
Questions:
1. How much of the total Energy is Potential Energy at Position One?
2. At position 2, how much of the Potential Energy from Position 1 was transferred to
Kinetic Energy?
3. At Positions 3 and 4, the roller coaster car was at a height between position 1 and 2. How
did the Kinetic Energy at position 3 compare to the Kinetic Energy at position 4?
Explain using relative heights and the velocities at each position.
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8th Grade PSI
Energy of Objects in Motion
4. The percentage of Total Energy of the roller coaster car at Positions 2 and 5 was equal
with 100% of the Energy being in the form of Kinetic Energy. Explain why the
velocities of the roller coaster car was not the same?
5. Based on your answer to number 4, was Mechanical Energy conserved in the
investigation? If not, was Energy lost or gained and in what form? What force would
have caused the change in Energy?
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8th Grade PSI
Energy of Objects in Motion