Experiment 7: Work, Power and Energy

Formal Report
Royce Navera, Noelle Oquendo, Lee Padua, Bernadette Piedra
Department of Math and Physics
College of Science, University of Santo Tomas
Espaa, Manila Philippines

Abstract

1.Introduction
Energy is one of the most
fundamental parts of our universe. We use
energy to do work. Energy is defined as
the ability to do work. When a force acts
upon an object to cause a displacement of
the object, it is said that work was done
upon the object. There are three
key ingredients to
work
force,
displacement, and cause. In order for a
force to qualify as having done work on an
object, there must be a displacement and
the force must cause the displacement.
The quantity work has to do with a
force causing a displacement. Work has
nothing to do with the amount of time that
this
force
acts
to
cause
the
displacement. The quantity that has to do
with the rate at which a certain amount of
work is done is known as the
power. Power is the rate at which work is
done.
Energy exists in several forms such
as heat, kinetic or mechanical energy,
light, potential energy, electrical, or other
forms. Potential energy, or stored energy,

is the ability of a system to do work due to

its position or internal structure. For
example, gravitational potential energy is a
stored energy determined by an
object's position
in
a
gravitational
field while elastic potential energy is the
energy stored in a spring. As a form
of energy, the SI units for potential energy
are the Joule. Kinetic energy is a form
of energy that represents the energy of
motion. It is a scalar quantity, which means
it has a magnitude but not a direction.
The law of conservation of energy is
a universal principle that says that the total
energy of a system always remains
constant. In other words, energy cannot be
created or destroyed but it can be
converted from one form into another.
This activity aims to demonstrate
conservation of mechanical energy to
measure the change in kinetic and potential
energies as a ball moves in a free fall. And
to determine the power output when going
up and down the stairs.
II. Theory
In this experiment there are different
operations involved.
Weight

The weight of an object is usually

taken to be the force on the object due to
gravity.

SI unit is Watts(1Joule/Second)
Equation 3: Power

Weight = mass x gravity

Energy
In this, mass is a property of a
physical body which determines the strength
of its mutual gravitational attraction to other
bodies, its resistance to being accelerated by
a force, and in the theory of relativity gives
the massenergy content of a system and g
2
is the gravity which 9.8m/ s .
Equation 1: Weight
Work

Energy is the capacity of a physical

system to perform work.

Work-Energy Theorem
The work-energy theorem comes from the
above derivation, and indicates that the work
done by an external force on a particle is
equal to the change in kinetic energy of the
particle.

In physics, the product of a force

applied, and the distance through which that
force acts.
Work = Force x distance
Or
Work = IForceI IdistanceI cos
In this, the SI unit is Joules (1N x m)
is the angle between Force and

and
distance.

Equation 2: Work
Power

Kinetic Energy = mv^2(motion)

Potential Energy = mgy (position)
Mechanical Energy = KE + PE
Equation 4: Energy
III. Methodology

Power is the rate of doing work.

Power =

Work
Time

Activity 1

energy versus time of the same ball and the

graph of total mechanical energy versus time
of the ball was predicted and sketched.
Then, the motion detector was connected to
the DIG/SONIC 1 Channel of the interface.
The motion detector was placed on the floor
and the detector was protected by putting a
wire basket over it After that, the file was
opened and then the ball was tossed straight
up. The Logger Pro was used in graphing PE
vs. time, KE vs. time and total ME vs. time.
First, the weight of each member of
the group was obtained and the time for each
member to go downtairs of the Main
Building to the second floor was calculated.
Then, the time for each member to to go
upstairs from the second floor to the third
floor was also obtained. Next, the vertical
distance (h) between the second floor and
the third floor was determined. Then, the
work done by gravity on each member when
going up and going down was computed.
Lastly, the power output of each member of
the group in each case was calculated.

IV. Results and Discusion

VI. Applications

VII. References

Activity 2

[1]Work, Power and Ennergy. Retrieved on

November
10,
2015
from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/ener
gy/Lesson-1/Definition-and-Mathematicsof-Work

First, the graph of potential energy

versus time of a ball thrown vertically up
from a height of 50 cm was predicted and
sketched. Second, the graph of kinetic

[2] Power. Retrieved on November !0, 2015

from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/ene
rgy/u5l1e.cfm