Section 1 – From the left of the screen to the right, the red balls have a center of mass placed at 20 feet, 15 feet, and 10 feet high respectively.
Suppose each red ball weighs 20 lbs. Find the potential energy (PE) for each ball on each ramp. In this lab mass is given in pounds and height is in feet, so use 32.2 ft/sec2 as the gravitational constant. Your answer will be in foot-pounds since US units are being used.
PE = m g h where g = 32.2 ft/sec2
Ramp 1:
Ramp 2:
Ramp 3:
Predict the maximum speed (velocity) of each ball on each ramp. How would this speed change if each ball’s mass was doubled? ASSUMPTION: assume there is no friction and that all the potential energy you calculated in question 1 is transformed into kinetic energy – PE = KE. Use the following equation.
KE= ½ m v2
You want to calculate v maximum speed
v = [KE/ ½ m]½
This means divide the KE by half the mass and then take the square root.
Max v for 20 lb. ball
Max v for 40 lb. ball