Oct-2-2014 Observing the relationship between work and energy

Purpose:
Students conducted a lab to observe the relationship between work and energy.

Lab:
We set up a track with a rolling cart with a spring attached. There is a motion sensor on one end and on the other end the spring is attached to a force sensor. We zero both sensors with the spring at rest. Then we turn both sensors on, pull the cart and let go. The varying force and position data is then recorded.

Setup:

Calculations:
The motion and force sensor gave us the data for velocity, force, time and position. Students calculated kinetic energy using the mass and velocity (.5mv^2). Students then plotted a graph of kinetic energy vs position, and force vs position. The students then took the integral of a section of the force vs position graph and compared it to the kinetic energy for the same section. Theoretically the data should be equal. The students found their data to be within reasonable bounds for error.