phys221 lab4

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The University of Tennessee, Knoxville *

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221

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Mechanical Engineering

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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2

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Laboratory Report 4 The goal of this lab is to better understand the concepts of work, energy, conservation of energy, and ordered/disordered energy. I’ll also be able to differentiate between kinetic and potential energy. Design a track that is fun, challenging and relatively safe. Paste a picture of your track into your log. Use the Energy Graphs to track the Skater's mechanical energy. Decide which graphs or charts best help you understand what makes your track successful. I thought the bar graph was easier to understand. Explain why your track is successful in terms of conservation of mechanical energy. Refer to Charts or Graphs to help explain your reasoning. I think my track is successful because the movement of the energy is ordered. My track is conserving energy rather than disordering it. Using conservation of mechanical energy, explain what things need to be considered when designing any successful track. Friction should be strongly considered because it causes energy to convert from ordered to disordered. Another factor to consider is the mass of the skater could also affect the resulting energy. Explain what changes in the simulation when you add friction. How does the energy distribution change? When I added friction, the skater significantly slowed down and did not make it over the loop of my track. Potential energy and kinetic energy are still inverses of each other; however, an additional thermal energy was factored into total energy when friction was included.
Experiment: What is the value of the spring constant k (magnitude and units)? k= 2.835 What is the equilibrium position x equ of the free end of the spring in units of cm, i.e. in your graph, what is x (in m) when y = 0? x equ = 18.6 cm Is the gravitational potential energy lost equal to the elastic potential energy stored in the spring? If not, approximately how much of the work done by gravity is stored in the spring, and what do you think happened to the rest of it? The gravitational potential energy lost is not equal to the elastic potential energy stored in the spring. Approximately half the energy is lost, and half the work done by gravity will be stored in the spring. The remaining energy will be converted into disordered energy. Add a plot of ½k(x - x equ ) 2 to your graph and paste your graph into your log. Reflection: In the first portion of this lab, I used an interactive website to build my own skateboard track and test it out. This allowed me to visually see the different types of energy at each exact moment. It was also a great demonstration of how friction also affects energy. In the second portion of this lab, I had to create a force vs position chart then used that information to create a potential energy vs position chart. I had to find ½k(x - x equ ) 2 and use that equation to create the second graph which demonstrates the potential energy being stored in the spring.
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