Pyramid Lab

The BIG Question?

        - Is the product of force and distance universally conserved, which means a constant in systems other than pulleys?
     

     In Physics class this week we wanted to see if energy (in the SI unit Joules) was universally conserved.  Three books were stacked on a table and then a ramp was placed at an angle on the books.  Then a cart was placed on the ramp which was 750g.  The cart was manually pulled up the ramp and we used an electronic force probe to measure the force required to pull it up.  Here are our results

       Trial #1
          Force: .25 N
          Distance: 1.33 m
          Work: .3325 J

       Trial #2
          Force: .50 N
          Distance: .7 m
          Work: .35 J

       Trial #3
          Force: .4 N
          Distance: 1.6 m
          Work: .64 J
The first two results were consistent with our hypothesis but our third trial was very random and different.  After trying multiple times we got the same answer.  This is just down to human error and the fact that we are a bunch of sleep deprived high school students who can't focus for more than ten seconds at a time.  

From this lab, we were able to see that energy is conserved, and we discovered the relationship between its two factors.

The relationship with Force and Distance is inverse.

• When the force goes UP, the distance goes DOWN
• When the distance goes UP, the force goes DOWN.

Real Life Connection:

For those people in our world who have to use a wheelchair ramp, they are putting in the same work as those who use the stairs.  Those who take the stairs cover less distance but use more force to get themselves up.  Those in wheelchairs inversely then cover more distance but use less force.