Unit 7: Energy

Synopsis

1. Energy brainstorm: What is energy?
As a group we brainstormed what everybody interpreted energy as.
We then developed the first rule of energy:
o All energy is stored energy. You must name where/how it is being
stored.

Our rules evolved to include energy can be transferred, and later we
added that energy is conserved.
Observations: low-friction cart rolling down track, into a stretched
rubber band, and rolling back to the starting position.
o Where do we see energy?
o In the motion of the car & in the stretched rubber band
o You know there is energy stored because you can see it stretch.

2. Gravitational Field Energy
Gravitational field energy was defined as being the energy stored in the
distortion of the object's and Earth's gravitational fields.



3. Pie Charts
Is there more energy at position A or B? Given this question in
combination with the diagram below, the group was led the idea that pie
charts would be a descriptive representation of energy.



4. Energy Lost to the Surroundings
Demonstration: Don dropped a piece of wood, it bounced and then
landed on the ground. Where did the energy go? Does the collision
between two objects generate heat?
When provided with the following diagram, we decided that some
energy is being lost to the surroundings. We added this to our pie
charts.


5. Deployment: Worksheet 1










6. Activities I & II
Activity I: Don used a rubber band to launch a block of wood down the
track until it stopped. Work as a group to create the appropriate pie
charts that represent this scenario.
Activity II: Don tilted the ramp and launched a low-friction cart up the
ramp using a rubber band. Work as a group to create the appropriate
pie charts that represent this scenario.

7. Bar Charts!
Introduction to bar charts as a more descriptive representation of
energy and energy transfer.



8. Deployment: Worksheet 3a




9. Paradigm lab
What happens to the force that you need to apply as the spring gets
stretched further? (spring between two fingers). Can we measure this?


Lab: Measure length stretched (independent) and record reading on
force sensor (dependent).








10. Analyzing Graphs of Force vs. Distance Stretched
We quickly defined the slope as the spring constant. As a class we
derived Hooke's law.


We then used the question "What do you think the area of the F vs. x
graph represents?" to derive the expression for energy stored in a spring.


11. Extension Lab I
How does the energy stored in the stretchy cord relate to the velocity of
the cart? (different groups have different mass carts)


12. Extension Lab II
How does the energy stored in the stretchy cord relate to the the height
that the cart travels up the inclined ramp? (different groups have
different mass carts)





13. Extension Lab III
How does the energy stored in the stretchy cord relate to the the skid
distance of an object with friction? (different groups have different mass
carts)





14. Energy Model Summary
We used the data from each group and a little bit of "hand waving" to come up
with the formulas for the energy unit.



Gravitational Field Energy = mass*10*height


Spring Energy = 0.5*k*x^2, Energy Lost to Surroundings = friction*distance