(solution) Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum Gizmos / Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum answered
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Course
Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum
Institution
12
Name: Date:
Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum
Vocabulary: conservation of energy, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, pendulum, potential energy, velocity
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A toy car is about to roll down a t...
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A toy car is about to roll down a track, as 2. A pendulum consists of a weight that is
shown below. At what point do you think suspended from a pivot. At what point will
the car will reach its greatest speed? the pendulum below move fastest?
Mark this point on the image. Mark this point on the image.
3. What do these two situations have in common?
Both the objects will reach their maximum speed at the lowest point.
Gizmo Warm-up
Objects have several types of energy. Potential energy depends on an object’s position or
shape. Kinetic energy is the energy of movement. The Energy of a Pendulum Gizmo™ allows
you to explore how the amounts of these types of energy change for a pendulum in motion.
1. On the DESCRIPTION pane, change the initial
angle (θ) to 40 degrees. Click Play ( ). How
does the velocity (speed and direction) of the
pendulum change as it swings from right to left?
The velocity increases as it comes down but slows down
when it reaches the side.
2. On the image at right, mark the point where the
pendulum swings fastest with an X. Then, circle the
two points where the velocity is zero.
, Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
• Click Reset ( ).
Potential and • Check that m is 0.5 kg, L is 2.0 m, g is 9.8 m/s2,
kinetic energy
and θ is 40 degrees.
Introduction: An object that is a certain height (h) above the ground has the potential to do
work, and therefore has potential energy. This type of potential energy is called gravitational
potential energy (GPE, or PE for short). The unit of energy is the joule (J).
Question: How are potential and kinetic energy related?
1. Observe: Select the BAR CHART tab. Click Play and observe. What do you notice about
the gravitational potential energy (PE), kinetic energy (KE), and total energy (TE)?
The PE is greatest when the ball is in a higher position and the KE is greatest when it's at the bottom of the swing
because that's when the velocity is greatest. The TE stays the same.
2. Measure: Click Reset. Turn on Show numerical values.
A. What is the gravitational potential energy? 2.3 J
B. What is the kinetic energy? 0J
2.3 J
C. What is the total energy? _
3. Measure: Click Play, and then try to click Pause ( ) when the pendulum is in the middle
of its swing. (This might require several tries.)
0J
A. What is the gravitational potential energy now?
2.3 J
B. What is the kinetic energy now?
2.3 J
C. What is the total energy?
4. Analyze: At any given time, what can you say about the total energy of the pendulum?
The total energy of the pendulum is always 2.3 J
This illustrates the principle of conservation of energy. In a closed system, energy can be
converted from one form to another, but the total amount of energy remains the same.
(Activity A continued on next page)
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