October 5 2016
Goal:
We shall look at a vertically oscillating spring and analyse it as a system of energy; with the intention of confirming that energy is conserved. We will graph our data collected to visually affirm conservation of energy. Normally in homework problems we assume springs are mass-less, but for a true-to-life estimation we must note the mass of our spring in our calculations.
Procedure and Analysis:
Our apparatus is a spring hanging down from a horizontal rod with a weight attached to the bottom. We position a motion sensor directly under the spring to track it's movement. We also have a step where we hang our spring from a force sensor. We are calling our position data stretch.
By setting the lowest position of the oscillating spring to be 0 potential energy, and utilizing the velocity data from the motion tracker we can come up with graphs for Gravitational Potential Energy(GPE) and Kinetic Energy(KE). We also have Elastic Potential Energy(EPE) which should oscillate similarly to GPE.
KE = 1/2*(Mhanging + 1/3Mspring)*v^2
GPE = (Mhanging + 1/2Mspring)*g*y
EPE = 1/2*k(stretch)^2
Conclusion:
We did not come to the expected conclusions as seen by the final graph of total energy. We should see that as KE is at a maximum, EPE is at a minimum; we should also be able to observe that the total energy level is constant. We failed to create this model perhaps due to some human error in data collection as well as failure to set up the energy equations properly. Time is a serious constraint in some of these labs and we will have to be more vigilant when preparing further labs because it is not always easy to assess data during lab sessions. Nonetheless some graphs came out good such as GPE vs position and EPE vs velocity, with some stray lines due to errors in data collection. Energy is conserved!
No comments:
Post a Comment