Energy Skate Park Pre-Lab

  1. In the image to the right, the skater is headed down the half-pipe.

For each quantity, write whether it will be increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.

Explain your answer in the box on the right.

Quantity / Increasing/Decreasing/Same / Explain your answer
Height of the skater
Potential energy of the skater
Speed of the skater
  1. The bar graph shows the energy of the skater.

Where could the skater be on the track? ______

Explain your answer

  1. On a flat surface, the skater starts moving to the right and then slows to a stop.

On the right, draw what the Energy Chart will look like when the skater is stopped.

Explain your answer

  1. Your friend plays soccer. Describe a situationin a soccer game where your friend would have:

High Kinetic Energy:

______

Low Kinetic Energy:

______

Energy Skate Park

Learning Objectives

  • Explain the relationship between total energy and kinetic, potential, and thermal energy
  • Explain how changing track friction affects kinetic, potential, and thermal energy.
  • Design a skate park using the concepts of mechanical energy and energy conservation.
  1. Explore the simulation (click link above). Describe how the skater moves.
  1. Describe how the skater’s height is related to the skater’s speed at different points on the track.
  1. Go to the “Introduction” tab.

In the table below, write down whether each quantity increases, decreases, or stays the same.

Skater’s Movement / Potential Energy / Kinetic Energy / Total Energy
Up the hill /
Down the hill /
  1. The picture shows the skater starting at the top of the ramp (position 1). Draw (or copy paste) the pie chart for the skater at positions 2, 3, and 4.

Explain your reasoning for each point:

2:

3:

4:

Go to the “Friction” tab.

The skater is movingto the right along flat ground.

In the table below, write down whether each quantity is

increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.

Track Friction / Potential Energy / Kinetic Energy / Thermal Energy / Total Energy
Zero
Greater than Zero
  1. The skater is started at the top of the track. The table below shows Energy Bar Charts for the skater.

In the table, draw where you think the skater is on the track, and if you think friction is on or off.

Draw
Skater Position / / / /
Frictionon or off

Energy Skate Park Post-Lab

  1. Thermal energy is a by product of work done by (circle one)

gravitythe boyfriction

  1. The skater moves up and down on the half-pipe. How could the skater end at to a greater height than where the skater started? (circle)

Eliminate friction Do work on the skateboardDecrease gravity

  1. Define “total energy” of the system based on your observations.
  1. Use “friction” page. Investigate the different forms of energy, and their relative amounts, when the skater is at different positions.

Position of skater / Forms and relative amounts of energy at this position
Top of hill
Middle of hill
Bottom of hill
  1. Use trends in the table above to write a “rule” about the changes in energy, including total energy, of the system as the skater moves along the track. Use your own words.
  1. Use your energy equations to complete the missing information in the table below:

System / Eat A
Total Energy at point A / KEat A
Kinetic Energy at point A / PEatA
Potential Energy at point A / ThEat A
Thermal Energy at point A / Eat B
Total Energy at point B / KEat B
Kinetic Energy at point B / PEat B
Potential Energy at point B / ThEat B
Thermal Energy at point B
/ 16J / 0J / 16J / 0J / 0J / 2J
/ 1.1J / 0.3J / 24J / 6.3J / 0.7J
/ 14.5J / 1J / 0.5J / 4.5J / 0.9J