Work and Power Lab

Carly Cavagnaro
Period AA Maroon
Mr. Valente
March 21, 2018

Purpose​- To determine the relationships between work, power and time.

Materials-​ The materials include a stopwatch, meterstick, computer graphing software, stairwell
and a subject.

Procedure-​ The student will figure out the height of the stairs they are running up and record it
accordingly. They then calculate their weight into Newtons to find out theri force to calculate
work later on. Fill out everyone else’s forces in the class and begin the procedure of running up
the stairs. Each person will record their time and add that to their data sheet. Now with the
required numbers for calculations, find out everyone’s work and power.

Data & Observations-

Distance (Height of Stairwell) in meters - 4m

Work and Power Data Table

Student Running Time Running Power

Number Force (N) (s) Work (J) (W)
1 823 4.5 3292 731.56
2 - - - -
3 984 3.8 3936 1035.79
4 578 4.3 2312 537.67
5 588 4.8 2352 490
6 598 6 2392 398.67
7 534 8.3 2136 257.35
8 489 8.8 1956 222.27
9 823 7.9 3292 416.71
10 890 7.2 3560 494.44
11 520 4.6 2080 452.17
12 874 11 3496 317.82
13 934 6.8 3736 549.41
14 778 3.4 3112 915.29
15 556 6.6 2224 336.97
 16 867 8.6 3468 403.26
17 427 7.5 1708 227.73
18 556 6.4 2224 347.5
19 547 6.8 2188 321.76

Graphs
Calculations-

Weight in Newtons:
Weight in Pounds- 120 lbs 120 lbs x 4.45 N = ​534 N
1 lb = 4.45 Newtons

Work in Joules:
d= 4 meters W=Fd W = 534 N x 4 m ​W=2,136 J
F= 534 N

Power in Watts:
W= 2,136 J P=W/t P= 2,136 J / 8.3 s P= 257.35 W
t= 8.3 s

Analysis-
2. In my Power vs. Work graph there is a trend line in my data. The line is increasing positively
upwards because the more work you have, the more power you do and this counts for
everyone. See Graph 1 for reference in the trend line.

4. In my Work vs. Time graph my trend line is horizontal because of the way time interacts with
how much work you do. Because the time is on the bottom and we all had around the same
work, the trend line goes horizontal and stays closer together. It really depends on how much
force was put on because it really determines how much work you do. That is why it differs from
each person. The more work divided by the time really gives varied answers. Refer to Graph 2
for trend line.

6. In my Power vs. Time graph there is a decreasing negative trend line because of how long it
takes to go up the stairs. The longer you take, the less power you have. So if the time is on the
X- axis, then the power will decrease because time goes from 0-11 with lessening power. Refer
to Graph 3 for a trend line.
7. Gender can have an effect on power because in my class particularly, the guys had shorter
times which resulted in larger powers. But it also goes into account their weights, which are
generally bigger than the girls in my class. So in my class, gender can affect power.

8. In my class Number 3 had the greatest amount of work. They had 3936 Joules of work. Refer
to my chart.

9. In my class Number 3 also had the greatest amount of power. They had 1035.79 Watts of
power. Refer to the chart.

10. In my class Number 17 had the least amount of work with 1708 Joules. Refer to chart.

11. In my class Number 8 had the least amount of power with 222.27 Watts. Closely behind is
Number 17. Refer to chart.

12. Based on my previous answers, doing the work does mean you have the most power but
doing the least work does not get you the power. In this case, The least work and power were
not the same person, but they are only a small difference away, so I believe it is still possible to
do the least work with the least power.

13. Doing more work does necessarily mean you have more power because if you are working
continuously than your force and distance can increase. When the work increases your power
increases because the time decreases because you do something is faster with more work. So
the equations used check out because they use force, distance, time and work to figure out your
final power.

Conclusion-
In order to interpret graphs of power vs. work, work vs. time and power vs. time, students
must find their weight. After finding their weight in Newtons, we measured the stairwell to run up
to calculate our work and power. When we measured the 4 meter staircase, we timed each
other running up. After doing so, we calculated each of our works and powers by using the
predetermined weights, distances and times we each had. Using the work equation W=Fd and
the power equation P=W/t ,we created graphs to determine each others works and powers.
One major error that could have been fixed is the way students walked up the stairs.
Some people did not try and simply walked, and some ran really fast. I feel if we all kept at a
similar speed, then the data would come out more clear. We could figure out more precisely if
girls or guys had more work or power if we all truly tried. Also humans cannot stop the
stopwatch at the exact time that the person stopped, so that could have messed with the data
too. Lastly, people not knowing their tru weights could have also messed with data because it
does not show a true trend line of power and work. It can mess up the real work and power
people would have had.