Section: L-56
Experimental General Physics for Engineers I
Laboratory Report PHYS 192 Fall 2021
Student Name: Student ID:
Experiment title: Conservation of mechanical energy
Evaluation (For Instructor to fill)
Date received: Due date:
Introduction(1 pt)
Data, Table of results (2 pts)
Graph (2 pts)
Data analysis (4 pts)
Discussion (1 pt)
Others
Report Grade
1. Aim of the experiment
The purpose of this experiment is to prove the law of conservation of energy.
2. Theory
Energy is always conserved wherein the kinetic energy converts to potential energy,
assuming that no friction is present, and despite the changes in each type of energy the total
energy still remains constant. The potential energy, PE=mgh is maximum as the height of object
is increased at a point and decreases as it lowers converting to translational kinetic energy and
KE=1/2mv^2. However, with the platter holding some of the energy, we should introduce an
additional energy in in terms of rotational motion known as rotational kinetic energy. So, the
concept of Inertia is applied:
𝐸𝑅 = ½*𝐼*𝜔^2
Now, if we release the hanging mass the stored potential energy will be transferred to linear KE
and rotational KE. Thus, we get the following equation:
mgh=1/2mv^2+= ½*𝐼*𝜔^2
The following is the equation used to determine the Inertia of the platter:
1 2
I = ∗M∗R
2
3. Equipment
Platter
Smart pulley connected to a computer
Set of masses
Meter stick
4. Procedure
i. First, begin by measuring the initial height of the hanger’s position to the floor (h) and
estimate error and maintain this height for each mass dropped (mass of hanger is 5g+
mass of masses 50,70,90,110g).
ii. Place the mass on the hanger and collect the maximum velocity data from the software
after travelling the distance we measured in step 1. Write on table.
iii. Repeat step 2 for all masses.
5. Results
5.1.Parameters of the experiment
Mass of the platter: M= 0.990 kg ± 0.010 kg
Radius of the platter: R= 0.126 ± 0.001 m
Radius of the pulley: r=0.02 ± 0.001 m
Falling height: h= 0.780± 0.001 m
5.2.Moment of inertia of the platter and its error
1 1
I = M R2 = ( 0.991kg )∗( 0.125 m )2=0.007742 kg m2
2 2
√( ( ) )( ( ) ) √(
2 2
1 2 1 2
∂ MR ∂ MR
2 2
) √( )
2 2
1 2 2 1
u ( I )= u(M ) + u ( R) = R u ( M ) + ( MRu ( R ) ) = ( 0.125 m )2 ( 0.001kg ) + ( ( 0.99
∂M ∂R 2 2
5.3.Table
v1 v2 v3 vavg(m/
m(g) m(kg) u(m)kg (m/s) (m/s) (m/s) s) u(v)m/s Ep (J)
0.00577 0.4204
55 0.055 0.001 0.2 0.18 0.19 0.19 4 2
0.00333
75 0.075 0.001 0.21 0.21 0.2 0.206667 3 0.5733
0.00333 0.7261
95 0.095 0.001 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.233333 3 8
0.8790
115 0.115 0.001 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 0 6
Ek(trans)J Ek(rot)J Ek (tot)J u(Ep)J u(Ek)J
0.000993 0.34935775 0.350351 0.007663 0.040882
0.001602 0.413336778 0.414938 0.007679 0.043431
0.002586 0.526886111 0.529472 0.0077 0.054797
0.003887 0.654199 0.658086 0.007727 0.06542
5.4. Error of the mean velocity
√
2
(v ¿ ¿ 3−v av )
÷ √ n ¿ ¿¿
2 2
σ v = ( v ¿ ¿ 1−v av ) +(v ¿ ¿ 2−v av ) +
n−1
√
2 2 2
(0.2−0.19) +( 0.18−0.19) +(0.19−0.19)
σ v= ÷ √3
3−1
m
σ v =0.005774
s
5.5. Uncertainty on E P and E K
√( )( )( )
2 2 2
∂ ( mgh ) ∂ ( mgh ) ∂ ( mgh )
u ( E p)= ×u ( m ) + × u (g ) + ×u ( h )
∂ (m) ∂ (g ) ∂ ( h)
√ 2
¿ ( gh× u ( m ) ) + ( mg×u ( h ) )
2
√( )( )
2 2
m m
¿ 9.81 2
×0.78 m ×0.001 kg + 0.055 kg ×9.81 2 ×0.001 m
s s
¿ 0.00767 J
√ )( )
( )
2
1 2
Iv
( )(
2
( ) ( )
2 2
1 2 1 2
∂
∂ mv ∂ mv
2 2 r2
×u ( m ) + × u (v ) + × u (I )
∂ ( m) ∂ (v) ∂ (I )
u ( Ek ) =
(( ) )( ( ) )
2 2
1 2 1 2
Iv Iv
2 2
∂ ∂
r2 r2
+ ×u ( v ) + ×u ( r )
∂ (v ) ∂ (r )
√( ( )( ) ( )
2 2
)
2 2 2 2
1 2 2 1v I −I v
¿ v u ( m ) + ( mv u ( v ) ) + 2
u(I ) + 2 vu(v) + 3
u (r )
2 2r r r
√
( ( ) )( )
2 2 2
1 m m m
× 0.190 ×0.001 kg + 0.055 kg ×0.190 ×0.006
2 s s s
( ( )
)(
2 2
m
0.190
)
2
1 s 2 0.00774 kg m2 m m
¿ + × × 0.0001241 kg m + ×0.190 × 0.00577
2 ( 0.02m ) 2
( 0.02 m ) 2
s s
( ( ) ×0.001 m
)
2 2
2 m
−(0.00774 kg m ) 0.190
s
+
( 0.02 m )3
¿ 0 .0409 J
5.6.Graph of the total kinetic energy vs. the potential
Total Ek (J) vs. the Ep (J)
1
0.9
0.8 f(x) = 1.44399288614039 x − 0.0552343540965188
R² = 0.980173717145774
0.7
0.6
Series2
Ep (J)
0.5
Linear (Series2)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7
Ek (J)
5.7.Slope and intercept of the graph and their uncertainties
Slope 1.443993 -0.05523 Intercept (J)
Error of slope 0.145218 0.072911 Error of intercept (J)
6. Discussion
|True value - Experimental value|
%error= x 100
True value
%error= " 1− 1.443993 ∨} over { 1} x10 ¿
%error= 44.40%
Slope of the graph should be 1 if energy is conserved indicating that potential energy
and kinetic energy when combined would still result to the same total energy. The actual
slope of the graph is 1.44, which is quite close to 1. This difference may be due to friction,
which is ignored in our calculations. In addition, there may have been some errors due to
taking incorrect measurements or technical errors.
