INTRODUCTION This experiment was designed to investigate the relationship between work, potential energy, and kinetic energy. Applying equations learned in Physics class, it was possible to compare these to values measured by computer software. Examples used in the experiment were a cart, a spring, and a mass. Preliminary questions: 1. Lift a book from the floor to the table. Did you do work? To answer this question, consider whether you applied a force parallel to the displacement of the book. […]
This experiment was conducted to identify a quantity of unknown metal using calorimeter and conservation of heat principles and determine specific heat of metals. Specific Heat of Metal by definition: The heat required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a given substance by a given amount (usually one degree). William Cleghorn invented the concept of specific heat to explain the different amounts of thermal energy that different materials absorb when their temperatures increase. He’d measured latent heats — […]
Student Researched Lab Experiment to evaluate Spring Constants Introduction In this experiment we evaluated Hooke’s law by measuring the stretch of a spring with incremental masses. A motion detector provided position measurements and the masses were added 100 grams at a time. To calculate the spring constant we utilized the least squares method of data fitting on a Force by distance graph. Samples Calculations Line of Best Fit: f(x) = 0.202x + 16.5 xi-mean height, yi-force of gravity (1) Mean […]
Written by: Nicholas Connor In spite of their evident disadvantages, fossil fuels have been the dominant energy source of the 20th century. Perhaps as Brian Cox has asserted in Chain Reaction, “we are addicted to petroleum”. Environmental consequences thereof, such as carbon dioxide emissions and recent industrial spills, implicate that the contiguous manufacture and consumption of these fuels are perilous for future generations. Although society celebrates consumer technology, Max Planck’s conjecture is pertinent: “A new scientific truth does not triumph […]
