E201: WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

ROSANA, Antonella B.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this experiment was for the
students to apply the concepts of work, energy
and power. According to Elert (2015) work is
done whenever a force results in a displacement,
while power can be defined as work done per unit
time (Cutnell, 2010). A system is said to have
energy if it has the ability to do work (Elert,
2015).

In the experiment, the students tried to find out

the power of the fan cart using the concepts of
work and energy conservation principle. The
students analyzed the relationship of work and
power through the experiment. The students
were also required to find the work done and the
gravitational potential energy of the body along a
curved path. According to Cutnell (2010)
gravitational potential energy is the energy that
an object has by virtue of its position relative to
the position of the earth

MATERIALS AND METHODS

For this experiment a dynamics track, a fan cart,
two photogates, a pulley, a mass hanger, a
protractor, a set of slotted weights, a hanging
mass, a spring balance, a smart timer, a meter
stick and an iron stand were used.
Figure 1: The figure shows the students arranging the
setup for the first part of the experiment. It shows how
the track is setup with the pulley attached to it. Also,
the mass hanger with string is attached to the fan cart
then placed over the pulley.

In Part 1, the students determined the force,
work and power of the fan cart. The materials
were placed on a stable table. The group made
sure that the track was stationary by placing the
fan cart on it and adjusting the screw on the end
of the track if the cart was still moving. The
pulley was also attached to the track. Then the
fan was tested to see if it moved away from the
pulley. The string of the mass hanger was
attached to the fan cart then hung over the
pulley.
Then by trial and error mass was added to the
pan while the fan is turned on to the low setting.
The addition of slotted weights was stopped when
the fan stopped moving away from the pulley.
The total hanging mass on the pulley was 35
grams and this was recorded. From the total
weight on the pan (or mass hanger), the force of
the fan cart was obtained.
After that, the string with the mass hanger and
the pulley were removed. The two photogates
were attached to the smart timer. Then
photogate 1 and 2 were placed at the 100 cm
and 70 cm mark, respectively. A metal stick was

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also attached to the fan cart in such a way that
the beams of the photogates will detect the stick.

The timer was set to record time with two gates.

For the first trial, the fan cart was turned on to
the lowest setting then the time for it to move
from one photogate was recorded using the
smart timer. The time and displacement were
recorded. For the next three trials, photogate 2
was moved to the 80 cm, 90 cm and 100 cm
mark for the succeeding trials. Using the data
obtained, work and power were computed and
recorded.

Figure 3: The figure shows the setup for Part 2 where

the hanging mass is tied to the iron stand.

Then, the hook of the spring balance was

attached to the hanging mass. The spring
balance was pulled horizontally (as seen in Figure
4). The force applied by the mass was known
using the spring balance and then recorded. The
new height of the hanging mass, the angle made
by the string with the vertical and the
displacement of the body from the iron stand
were also measured and recorded.

Figure 2: The figure shows the setup in the second part

of part 1. It also shows the student testing if the metal
stick will pass through the metal stick.

In Part 2, the students determined the work done

by a force on a curved path. First, the hanging
mass with predetermined weight was tied to the
iron stand as seen in Figure 3. The initial height
of the mass were measured and recorded.

Figure 4: The figure shows how the hanging mass was

pulled horizontally using the spring balance. It also
shows the students measuring the height,
displacement and the angle.

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In the succeeding trials, the height of the body 3 4.6 N 0.236 m 0.090 m 53
was increased while it was still being pulled 4 5.2 N 0.252 m 0.106 m 58
horizontally. With the obtained data, the work
and the gravitational potential energy of the The length of the string (L) was measured to be
mass were computed and recorded. 0.275 m, the mass of the hanging mass was 0.3
kg and the initial height of the hanging mass was
OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS 0.146 m.
After performing Part 1, the students were able
to gather and compute the following data: Table 3: Obtained and Computed Data for Part 2
Table 1: Obtained and Computed Data for Part 1 (continued)
Displacement, gravitational
Trial s Time, t Work Power displacement, potential
Trial x work energy, PEg
1 0.3 m 0.5773 s 0.1029 J 0.178 W
1 0.182 m 0.1628 J 0.1117 J
2 0.4 m 0.7385 s 0.1372 J 0.186 W
2 0.202 m 0.2076 J 0.1852 J
3 0.5 m 0.8720 s 0.1715 J 0.197 W
3 0.216 m 0.3219 J 0.2646 J
4 0.6 m 0.9901 s 0.2058 J 0.208 W 0.3800 J
4 0.231 m 0.3116 J

Work and power were computed using the

The sample computation for getting the work
following solution:
and the gravitational potential energy are as
= 35 follows:
1 () = 0.3 9.8 2
= 35 9.8 2
1000 () = 2.94
= 0.343
= (1 )
= = (2.94 )(0.275 )(1 cos(37))
= 0.343 0.3 = 0.1628
= 0.1029
=
= (0.300 )(9.8 2 )(0.038 )
=
= 0.1117
0.1029
=
0.5773
The student observed that as the force and the
= 0.178
change in height or displacement of the hanging
mass increased, the work also increased. In each
The student observed that as the displacement
trial, the gravitational potential energy also
and the time of travel of the fan cart increased,
increased. In some trials, there was a small
the work of the cart also increased even if the
difference between the values of the gravitational
force of the cart was constant. The student also
potential energy and work.
observed that the power increased every trial.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

Then, the students obtained and computed the
In Part 1 of the experiment, the students first
following data for Part 2:
Table 2: Obtained and Computed Data for Part 2
determined the force, work and power of the fan
cart. The force of the fan cart was obtained by
Final increase in tying a string with a mass hanger to the fan and
Trial Force height, hf height, h angle
putting it over a pulley. Then, the students added
1 2.7 N 0.184 m 0.038 m 37
mass to the hanger until the cart when turned on
2 3.5 N 0.209 m 0.063 m 42
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was not moving anymore. The weight of the pan
is the force applied by the cart. This is because ACKNOWLEDGMENT & REFERENCE
the weight of the pan counteracted the force of The accomplishment of the experiment and this
the cart and thus the system was in a state of laboratory report would never be possible without
equilibrium. the aid and guidance of several people who gave
their full efforts in accomplishing this report. The
As stated earlier, work is done whenever a force
student is very grateful for their contribution in
is able to move a certain object or when there is this report.
displacement (Elert, 2015). According to the
theory, mathematically, work is the magnitude of First and for most, the student would like to
the force applied multiplied by the displacement. thank God for giving her knowledge and strength
The work of the fan cart in the experiment in finishing this report.
increased as the displacement increased.
The student would also like to thank her
Therefore, displacement and work are directly
professor in Physics lab, Sir de Leon for his
proportional with each other. guidance during the experiment. The student is
grateful for the cooperation of the members of
Power was define as work done per unit of time. her group, Aaron, Mark, Lara, and Azalea.
So power is related to how fast work is done
(Henderson, 2015). In the experiment, the power Lastly, the student would like to thank the
increases as the work done increased. This is authors of the following sources for their
contribution to this report:
because in every trial, the amount of work done
is different, so the power or the rate at which a
Cutnell, John et al. (2010). Introduction to
specific amount of work done also varied.
Physics. Asia: John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte
Ltd.
In the second part of the experiment, the group
analyzed the work done by a force on a curved
Elert, Glenn (2015). The Physics Hypertextbook.
path. In this part, the gravitational potential Retrieved on January 29, 2015.
energy was also computed. Gravitational http://physics.info
potential energy was defined earlier as the
energy that an object has due to its position Henderson, Tom (2015). Mechanics: Work,
relative to the position of the earth (Cutnell, Energy and Power. Retrieved on February 1,
2010). 2015.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/calcpad/energ
As the hanging mass followed a curved path each y
trial, both its gravitational potential energy and
work increased. The gravitational increased due
to the increase in height every trial. The work
and the gravitational potential energy must be
equal because of the law of conservation of
energy. In her physics class, the student learned
the conservation of energy formula to be =
+ . In the experiment, the kinetic energy
was constant so the change in kinetic energy
would be zero thus resulting to = .

Some of the results in part 2 support this theory.

Some of the values were not equal due to
possible errors done by the students during the
measurement of the variables.
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