Kinetic Potential and Conservation of Energy

Potential & Kinetic Energy

Understanding Kinetic and Potential energy.

Energy

• Potential Energy- Energy due to an object's position or condition.

• Kinetic Energy - Energy due to an object's motion.

• Energy cannot be created or destroyed only changed.

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Notice that as the kinetic energy increases the potential energy decreases.

When the coaster goes back up the hill the energy is converted back to potential energy.

Energy Skate Park

Go to the link for the activity in Classwork. Click on the intro tab and play around with the simulation.

Answer questions until you get to Part 2 and stop.

Open Ended

Investigate how the potential and kinetic energy of the skater change as the skater moves from the top of the ramp to the bottom.

What conclusions can you make about how the height of the skater influences the potential and kinetic energy of the skater?

Open Ended

What happens when you make friction and gravity zero?

Open Ended

Put friction and gravity to the middle. Now change the skaters mass. What happens as you increase the mass?

Open Ended

Click on the energy graph. What happens to kinetic and potential energy as you release the skater?

Open Ended

What energy is gradually increasing and eventually causes the skater to slowly come to a stop?

Part 2

Click on the measure tab. You should see a purple device to measure energy. 

Answer questions until you get to Part 3 and stop.

Open Ended

Put the skater on the track and use the measuring tool to measure kinetic and (gravitational) potential energy.

What happens to the kinetic energy as you go along the track?

Open Ended

What happens to the gravitational potential energy as you go along the track?

Open Ended

Click on pie chart at the top.

What is happening to the kinetic and (gravitational) potential energy on the chart as the skater goes down the track.

Open Ended

Repeat it again with a different track or different mass/gravity/friction.

Did anything change?

Part 3

Click on the playground tab. Create your own track. Try to create a loop for your skater to go upside down in.

Open Ended

What happens to energy while they are in the loop?

How to increase potential energy.

There are 2 ways to increase the potential energy of an object in relation to gravity.

-Increase the object's height.

-Increase the object's mass.

Multiple Choice

Which of these has the most potential energy.

• A

• B

• C

• D

How to increase kinetic energy:

• Increase the mass of the object

• Increase the speed of the object (apply more force)

Multiple Select

If a football player wants to become better at tackling by increasing his or her kinetic energy, how can the player do this?

• Increase his/her height

• Increase his/her speed

• Increase his/her mass

• Decrease his/her speed

Open Ended

The Law of Conservation of Energy states, "Energy is never created or destroyed only changed." How does the relationship between potential and kinetic energy illustrate this?

Multiple Choice

What does gravitational potential energy depend on?

• Position

• Air Resistance

• Gravity

• Both position and gravity

Multiple Choice

A tiny pig is dropped from the top of a building and lands safely on a trampoline. The tiny pig will have an increase in what type(s) of energy as it falls?

• Potential Energy

• Kinetic Energy

• Gravity

• All three

Multiple Choice

The following is a graph of the energy of a skateboarder as he travels down a track. Using the diagram on the left, at which point on the track does the graph correspond to?

• Point A

• Point B

• Point C

Multiple Choice

Katy wants to design a rollercoaster where the passenger is traveling super fast at the bottom. What characteristics should the rollercoaster have?

• It should be flat and close to the ground. This way the passenger will have an increase in speed because he/she is close to the ground.

• It should have no friction and the passenger should start off high above the ground. This way the passenger starts out with a lot of potential energy that can be transformed into kinetic energy.

• It should have lots of friction and be very tall. This way the passenger will speed up due to the lots of friction.

• It doesn’t matter how you design the rollercoaster the passenger’s speed will be the same at all points on the rollercoaster.