Physics Honors – Lab 08 – Conservation of Energy
Purpose
- The purpose of this lab is to verify the conservation of energy of a cart rolling down a track
Procedure
- each student group is asked to write a procedure that utilizes the existing lab equipment in order to accomplish the goal of the lab
- suggested equipment: GLX Xplorer, Motion Sensor
- How will you do this without a meter stick?
Suggestions & Commentary
- start the cart from rest near the top of the ramp, against a fixed object (ruler?) to insure the same “top of the hill”
- record the angle of ramp and the distance traveled (h = (distance traveled)sin(theta)
- note the velocity of the cart at a fixed distance down the ramp to insure a constant change in vertical height
- is there a way to change this lab into a “y vs. x” experiment, in order to generate a graph?
- I will be taking a closer look at the number od digits you are using in your measurements.
- How many digits are meaningful?
- Do you need to even measure mass?
Notes & Processing & Hints
- use the conservation of energy equation to prove (or disprove) the law
- what factors could interfere with the lab? how would they interfere?
- calculating the percent difference between two quantities is the best way to show that a law is verified
Chemteacher 
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