Hover Disc and Fan Cart Lab

Purpose: To understand Newtons 3 laws of motion. 

To Find the 3 laws of motion, we conducted an experiment using a hover disc that looked like  soccer balls. They moved really smoothly and it was a lot of fun! We also use carts powered by fans. We found out more about force, mass and acceleration. 

Hover Disk Lab

Big Question: What gives rise to a change in motion and?

Key DATA:

We discovered forces between objects.

-Normal Force, Fn: acts Upward on an object (opposite direction of gravitational)

-Friction Force, Ff: the friction between to objects on contact

-Gravitational Force, Fg: Earth is pulling down on an object (gravity)

-For every action, theres an equal and opposite reaction meaning if two objects make contact, they will both exert an equal amount of force onto each other except they will be in opposite directions.

Real World Connection:

When 2 pool table balls collide they will exert the same amount of force on each other but they they will be in opposite directions..

Fan Cart Lab

Big Q: what's the relationship between mass, acceleration and force.

Lab Summary:

We used a fan cart with a constant force (No Net force) and put it on a track with the force probe. We would add different weight to the cart to find the relationship between the mass of the cart and the force and the acceleration that was measured as well using a logger pro.

We CONCLUDED that the relationship between mass and acceleration is indirect.

We derived the equation, f=ma: Force equals mass times acceleration.

Acceleration is depended on by the mass. 

Also, an object moving at constant speed will stay at that constant speed. An object with no motion, will remain motionless until force changes it.

So much knowledge!!!!!

Impulse Lab

Big Question: What is the relationship between impulse, force and time in a collision?

To answer the big question, we crashed the car into a force-probe attatched to the ring stand. We measured  car's velocity and all of it movement before the collision and then after the collision. We used metal bands to slow the collision down(slowed time down). This made it an elastic collision. 

  
Key Information:
-Impulse also equals the change in momentum; Momentum final minus momentum initial. J=Pf-Pi
-Impulse is constant when objects collide
-J=FT

Lab Conclusion: 
The Big answer is that force and time are inversely proportional. Force and time: Impulse equals force multiplied by time (J=FxT)

Real World Connection:
 When two players are running and collide, they're pads act as the metal rings to slow down time, the times it takes for the them to actually collide. It also reduces the impact of the collision. 

Collisions Lab

Big Question: Is energy or momentum better conserved in a collision?

Lab Summary: This week, we got to make cars collide! We collided a red car and a blue car. They were both 0.25kg. We did 2 different collisions. One was inelastic, where the 2 cars collided and the velcro strapped together, which then caused them to share the same energy and motion. Since they had the same mass, the car with less velocity before the collision, when collided/attached to the other car got taken with faster car then going the opposite direction. The elastic consisted of the 2 cars colliding then bouncing off one another and going opposite directions because of the spring. 

THE LAB: Photo taken by, Trevor Dunbar                                     :)

DATA: 

INELASTIC CALCULATIONS:

ELASTIC CALCULATIONS:

Our calculations show the "Big Answer"; Momentum is better conserved than energy in a collision

KEY INFO: -I learned that momentum is mass in motion. p=mv

                     -Momentum is conserved

                     

Real World Connection:

In the sport of basketball, when 2 players collide, it is not smooth. The player who weighs the most and is going the fastest will determine who will get the best of the collision and momentum will be transferred.

Rubber Band Cart Launcher Lab

Big Question:

How are energy and velocity related?

Lab Summary:

We put a cart on an air track and then pulled it back a certain distance/gave it a certain amount of energy to find the velocity the cart had. It was measured by the photogate sensor. We did this multiple times to get more accurate data.

What did you learn?

When the cart is released and the rubber band sends it flying down the air track, the elastic energy in the rubber band transferred to the pink cart; this is kinetic energy. 

"Big Answer"

The further back the cart pulls the rubber band back, the more energy is transferred to it when it's released which causes the velocity of the cart to increase. 



DATA:

Equation used:

Ug=mgh

K=1/2massXvelocity^2

Real World Connection

Once again, this is related to when Baby Cupid shoots his bow and arrow to make somebody fall in love. The further he pulls back his bow, when he releases it, the energy will transfer to the arrow, the more velocity it will have/faster it will go!

Rubber Band Lab

Big Question:  

How can we store energy to do work for us later?

How does the force it takes to stretch a rubber band depend on the amount by which is stretched?

The Purpose of this lab is to find the answers to the big questions. We wanted to find out how we could store energy to do work for us later find out how much force it takes to stretch the rubber band depending on how much it is stretched.

To find this out, we derived the equations F=kx and Us=1/2kx^2. F=kx is to find how much force it takes to stretch the rubber band. Us=1/2kx^2 is to find the amount of energy stored!

We used an electrical force probe attached to a rubber band. The rubber band was on the air track. We pulled 1cm, 2cm, 3cm, 4cm and then 5cm. Then we repeated with 2 rubber bands!

After collecting the data (Left Side) we graphed it. The y axis is the Force in Newtons it took to stretch the rubber band and the x axis is length the rubber band is stretched converted to meters!

I learned that potential energy is the energy that we store for later

Real World Connection: This connected to a bow and arrow!

When Baby Cupid pulls back that arrow, the bow is storing energy. Then he lets it go, and it goes make somebody fall in love. Same concept! More energy, the further the arrow goes.

Pyramid Lab!

Simple Machines make our lives easier!

 This week in Physics, we got the opportunity to do the Pyramid Lab. It was really hands on. We were constantly collecting data. We wanted to discover how distance and force were related and if they were universally conserved. We put a toy car on the ramp and a force probe to determine how much force it took to pull the car up the ramp.


Equation Used:
W=FD- Work equal Force Multiplied by Distance


What did you learn?
I that that forced and distance were related to each other inversely. They are universally conserved. I learned that when distance increases, the force decreases and when force increase, the distance decreases!

How is this connected to the world?

This is connected to skateboarding. When Tony Hawk is skating down the ramp, the longer/steeper it is, the less force it requires and the less he has to work. But if he's just skating down the street he has work harder.

Force vs. Mass

We got the chance to do a lab in class where we measure Mass vs. Force. The big question was, What is the relationship between mass(kg) of an object and the forced(N) needed to hold it in place? To answer the big Q, we used electrical and manual probes and brass masses. After we measured the brass masses, we used the slope formula, y=mx+b, and plug and chugged our data into the formula:
y=10x+0
Force in Newtons=10m+0.. (the y-intercept is 0 because the lines go through the origins)
The equation y=10x+0 is a simpler version of the equation F=mg. F=mg is the specific version and plug/substitute them.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
It was really fun because I learned that is the mass increases in an object, the forced needed to lift it does the same. The amount of force needed to lift an object is 10 newtons to every kilogram.

REAL WORLD CONNECTION
This is connected to my life because when I go to the weight room to lift weights I know (already knew) that when I try to challenge myself to see if I am really a beast and add more weight I have to use more force!!!

FORCE NEEDED!!!

Pulley Lab!

Last week in Physics, we were able to measure how much force(newtons) it takes lift a brass mass. To measure that, we got the opportunity to build a pulley! We used the pulley to lift a 200g brass mass, 10cm off the table.


In the Lab I learned that when using a pulley, they use less force and get more distance. When they don't use a pulley, they gave to used more force and get less distance. This Brings us into our real world connection. People use technology/machinery so they don't have to work as hard and in this case we get more out of it...

REAL WORLD CONNECTION:
The Force vs. Distance Lab is connected our everyday lives in a very big was because elevators are very important with our transportation through tall buildings. Millions of America's population go up and down elevators daily wether it's at work, a hotel, or many other places


How an elevator works; Pulley System