Rubberband Lab

Purpose: This lab helped us to understand how we can store energy so it can do work for us later and how the force it takes to stretch a rubber band depends on the amount by which we stretch it. To understand this we used a rubber band, a machine to hold the rubber band and a force probe to measure its force. We tested different trials to find the pattern of the force.

Key Information:

Part 1: First we put the rubber band around the machine once, like in the picture above. Then we measured the the force on the rubber band for every meter we pulled. So, we took the force probe and pulled .01 m, .02 m, .03 m, and so on until .05 m and like in the Pyramid lab we used the LabQuest2 machine to find the force being put on each distance we pulled. Here is our data:

Part 2: We repeated the same steps as Part 1 but instead of putting the rubber band around the loops once we double looped it, making it harder to pull and adding even more force on the rubber band. We recorded the force of .01 m up to .05 m. As you can see, more force was used unlike in Part 1.

Key Conclusions:

After recording our data we graphed it and found the best fit line. After, we discovered the slope and found out that for every meter the rubber band is being stretched. With this information we can now use it in an equation--> Fs = k * x. F = force, little s=spring, k="spring constant"( which is 44.44 N), x= distance stretched. Now we know that energy can be stored by applying force onto an object and that the more you stretch the rubber band the more force it takes.

Real Life Connection:

A good example of this lab would be bungee jumping on a trampoline. This is like how when Mr. O'keefe held the rubber band with his two finger, storing energy for it to do work for us later. The person on the bungee cord is like the force probe pulling the rubber band/bungee cord. You can pull it using your body or jumping higher adding on more force.

Pyramid Lab

Purpose: This lab helped us understand the relationship between force, distance, and work. To understand these relationships we used a ramp, a mini cart that holds 500 g of weight, and a device called LabQuest2 that reads the force of the mini cart being pulled up the ramp. We tested 3 trials on this Pyramid lab and graphed each trial to show the "work" that's being put in.

Key Information:

  In trial 1 we first measured the stack of books, at the end of the end of the ramp, from the top of the stack of books till the bottom(table). Then, with our device we pulled the mini cart up the ramp til the end of the book on top of the stack. We recorded the flat rate of the graph and took its mean for the force. As a result we got .541 N, 1.53 m for the distance of top of the stacks of book to the bottom. and .828 J for the work.

In trial 2 we moved the stack of books a little closer to the middle of the ramp, making the angle of the ramp bigger. Same as trial 1, we measured distance of the stack of books to the bottom and then pulled the mini cart until we reached the stack of books, then recorded its mean as the force. As a result for trial 2 we got .654 N, 1.12 m, and .735 J.

In trial 3 we moved the stack of books even closer, probably in the middle of the ramp. We measured the top of the stack of books to the bottom. Afterwards we recorded its mean as the force. For this last trial we got .714 N, 1.03 m, and .735 J. 

                            

Key Conclusions:

The relationship between force, distance, and work is W= F x d. We also discovered that work is a form of energy that is conserved or stays the same. From our observations we figured out that the closer we moved the books the less work it takes to pull the mini cart up the ramp and more force requires less distance.

Real Life Connection:

A good example is a uhaul truck. These trucks have a ramp to help move heavy things onto the moving truck. These trucks have a fairly short ramp, meaning that it takes less work to go up them. Like in our lab the ramp of the uhaul truck have the same patterns of our ramp in our Pyramid Lab. If this were a longer ramp then it would take less force to push up the ramp. If it were a shorter ramp then it would take more force to push up the ramp.

Pulley Lab

Purpose:
In class last week we learned about the relationship between force and what pattern is observed. To find out these two things we tested two pulley experiments by building one lab with one pulley and another lab with two pulleys. Attached to these pulleys will be 200g of weight on each side and the second pulley will have 100 g of weight on side and 200 g of weight on the other. . By using these pulleys we can figure out the relationship and pattern by measuring the distance between the the weight to the "floor" and then  measuring the distance the second time of how much you moved the weight.

Key Information:

In Experiment 1 my group, Group 4, and I meausured .1 meters of the initial length of the weight from the floor( weight on the left). After, we pulled/moved the pulley down on the right side and measure how much the weight moved on the left from its initial position. As you can see from the picture above we ended up with .1 also. So the weight moved exactly 10 cm. from its initial position

In Experiment 2 we measured .1m of the initial length of the weight from the floor (weight on the left). Then we moved/pulled the pulley on the right and measure how much the weight on the left moved. Above you can see the distance is .05m.

Key Conlcusion:

As a result you can see that in Experiment 1 it takes .1m of force to move exactly .1m of string from the pulley and in Experiment 2 it takes .5m or half the force to move .1m of string from the pulley. As a result we concluded that force and distance are inversely proportional. The greater applied force requires less distance(like in ex.1) and the lesser applied force requires more distance(like in ex.2)

Real World Connection:

An example of a real life pulley are zip lines because it shows us a good example of how greater applied force requires less distance and that lesser applied force requires more distance. When you go zip lining sometimes you have to keep your hand/s resting at the top of the pulley, like in the picture, because when you apply force on that pulley the slower you will go, which means less distance. If you don't rest your hands at the top and applying no force at all  then the faster you will go down the zip line, which means more distance.

Mass vs. Force

Purpose: In class last week we learned about the relationship between mass and force. We discovered that by weighing different sizes of metal we will find the pattern between mass and force. The pattern of mass and force helps us know how much

Key Information:  In our lab we weighed 5 different sizes of metal, which were 1kg, .5kg, .2kg, .1kg, and .02 kg, and found out that the mass in 1kg requires 10 times the force in Newtons, meaning that for every 1kg there are 10 newtons. Then, once we graphed the the mass and force we talked about the best fit line, which is the pattern or theory of the lab. In this case our pattern is 10 N/kg.

Key Conclusion:  After graphing, we found out the slope/pattern by using y= mx + b. Y represents the dependent  variable, m represents the slope, x represents the independent variable, and b represents the y-intercept, which is happens to be 0 in our lab. In this case, we ended up with F= gm. F stand for force of gravity or weight, g stands for gravity( 10 N/kg ), and m stand for mass. As a result of figuring out the slope/pattern we got F= 10 N/kg m .Now that we know this, we can figure out how much force is needed upon a certain amount of mass whether on earth or another planet. Here's a visual of our lab:

Real World Connections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJlL4wqLGo

This link is a real life example of mass, gravity, and force because it shows us how the mass of something effects the force on gravity compared to the earth and moon. In our lab we weighed the metals and figure out how much force is needed in 1kg(mass) on earth but on the moon we discovered that there is less force on the metals when on the moon. In this youtube video, the man on the moon is able to move and jump high in his 70 lb suit because there is less force needed on the mass of the suit and man.