ANALYSIS

We use the term work for everyday conversation to mean many

different things. We talk about going to work, doing homework, working in
class. In Physics, work is said to be done if a force acting on its body is able
to actually move it through some distance in the direction of the force. Work
is defined as the product of force and its distance. Power is the time rate of
doing work while Energy is the capacity or ability to do work in which it has
everal forms. The law of conservation of energy states that Energy is
neither created nor detoryed but is just changed from one form to another.

In this experiment we learn that work and energy are closely related to
Newton's laws of motion. when object A transfers energy to object B, the
energy of object A decreases by the same amount as the energy of object B
increases, we say that object A does work on object B. Lifting objects or
throwing them requires that you do work on them. Objects or systems must
have energy to be able to do work on other objects or systems by
transferring some of their energy.

To be able to demonstrate these theories, the work, energy and power

are defined in this experiment. Work is defined as the force applied to move
an object in a certain displacement. In addition, work is also defined as the
energy transferred to or from an object by means of a force acting on the
object. Work is expressed in Joules (J), Nm or kgm^2/s^2 . Power is the
time rate of doing work. It is expressed in Watt (W), or J/s. Energy is a scalar
quality associated with the state or condition of one or more objects and is
the capacity or ability to do work. From these definitions, the concept is
clear that power depends on work, and the work depends on energy.

This experiment is divided into two parts. The first part deals with
determining the force, work and power of the fan cart. According to the
theory, the work is defined as the dot of the force that is applied to an object
and the displacement of the object due to the applied force. Force and
displacement are both vector quantities. A dot product between two vector
quantities, force and displacement, produces a scalar quantity which is the
work.
In the first part of the experiment, the force F and the displacement S
have the same direction, theta ( would be zero and therefore the work
done by the force would be maximum.

Mathematically:

W=F s eqn. 1
Since we are only concerned in the work done by the force along the x-axis
eqn. 1 can be written as:
W =Fcos S eqn 2.
In eqn. 2, is the angle between the direction of the force and the
direction of the displacement while S is the magnitude of the displacement.
Power is defined as the work done per unit time, or mathematically:
Work
Pavg= eqn 3.
time
 Like work and energy, power is also a scalar quantity. When the rate
of work is not constant, the power may be computed instantaneously. To
compute for the power at an instant, we set the value of the change in time to
a value very close to zero or simply we just get the limit if the change in
work over change in time as the change in time approaches zero, or
mathematically:
W dW
P=lim = eqn
t t dt

4.

The first experiment for this course is entitled E201:Work, Energy,

and Power where we discussed the relation of Work, Power and Energy to
each other. In this experiment, the definition of work shall be defined in a
more precise manner and that the work shall be computed for a curved path.
The objectives of this experiment are:

To determine the power of the fan cart by using the definition of

work and the enrgy conservation principle.

To compute work for a motion along a curved path.

To start of with the experiment, we used the materials given to us by

our professor as shown in Figure 1. For equipment, avoid touching the blade
of the fan cart when in operation. Turn-on the fan cart only when performing
the experiment. It is advisable to attach a string to the fan cart with the other
end of the string connected to a fixed object to avoid having a run away fan
cart.

The materials used were:

FIGURE 1.

A. Smart timer and Photogates

B. Fan Cart
C. Iron Stand
D. Mass with string
E. Mass hanger
F. Protractor
G. Meter Stick
H. Set of Mass
I. Dynamics track with accessories
J. Iron Clamp
K. Spring Balance

FIGURE 2
 The first part of the
experiment is determining
the Force, Work, and
Power of the Fan Cart. In
order to start the first part
of the experiment, we
gathered enough data to
find the Force of the Fan Cart. The magnitude of the force of the fan cart
was obtained by adjusting the value of the weight on the pan attached to the
fan cart by a string that passes over a small and frictionless pulley. This was
done while the fan is working as shown in Figure 3.

If the fan cart moves in the direction away from the pan, it means that
the force of the fan cart is greater than the weight of the fan, conversely
when the fan cart moves in the direction towards the pan, it means that the
weight of the pan is greater than the force if the fan cart. So, to be able to get
the magnitude of the force of the fan cart, the fan cart must not move or the
fan cart and the pan must be in equilibrium as shown in Figure 2.

FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 The next step is to set up the photogates,

connect it to the smart
timer and make sure that
the sensor will detect the
fan cart as it pass through
the photogates, as shown
in Figure 4. There were
four trials in the first part,
 and value of the displacement is
initially 0 and was increased by 10
cm in each trials. The time it takes
for the fan cart to travel different
displacement was recorded and
compared. Since the value of the
force, displacement and time was
obtained in this part, as shown in
Figure 5, the work and power can also be obtained using eqn. 2 and 3.

Table 1 shows the results of the first part of the experiment. From the result,
the time increases as the displacement increases by 10 cm in each trial.
Similarly, the Work also increases. This result is consistent with the theory
because work is directly proportional to the product of the force and the
displacement. Even though the force is constant, still, the displacement is
increasing so work is expected to increase also. Also, FIGURE 5.
from the result, the value
of the power is increasing
but with a very little
difference with each other.
Power is directly
proportional with the work
done and is inversely
proportional with the time.
That is, the power
increases with work but as
the time increases the power decreases and vice versa. Based in the result,
we can see that the time increases but the power also increases, this is
because the work increases also. The power increases with a very little
difference so from that result, the power is constant.

Table 1. Determining the Force, Work and power of the Fan cart.

Force of the fan cart = weight of pan + weight added = 3.43 Newtons

Trial Displacement, S Time, t Work Power

1 0. 20 m 0.3524 0.0686 Joules 0.19467 Watts

sec
2 0. 30 m 0.4819 01029 Joules 0.21353 Watts
sec
3 0. 40 m 0.6079 0.1372 Joules 0.22570 Watts
sec
4 0. 50 m 0.7190 0.1715 Joules 0.23886 Watts
sec

Graph 1 shows the relationship of work, time and power. Since the
speed of the fan cart is constant, the time needed for it to go from the first
photogate to another increases as the displacement increases. Also, the graph
shows that the value of the slope at a certain point is equivalent to the power
at that certain time by dividing the y-component by the x-component. So, the
graph also proves that the result of the experiment is consistent with the
theory that the instantaneous power is equal to the derivative of work with
respect to time or the slope of the line at a certain point.

GRAPH 1.

In order to start the part two of experiment, we gathered the data by

measuring the initial height (ho) tying the mass to the end of the iron stand,
we also measured the length of the string hanging on the iron stand. The
spring balance is hooked on the end of the hanging body in order to pull the
hanging body and have a horizontal force; by doing this, we measured the

FIGURE 6.
final height (hf ) of the mass and read by the F as stated in the spring
balance. We performed several trials increasing the height by 0.02m until
the string is horizontal.

By applying the horizontal force F, we took extra care not to apply too
much and barely raising the height with the spring balance. We used a
protractor to obtained the angle ( by using a protractor as shown in
Figure We computed the work done by using eqn 9. Lastly, we computed
for the increase in the Gravitational Potential Energy of the mass for each
trial using eqn 8.

FIGURE 7

A formula to obtain the work

done by a force on a curved path can be
derived. We cannot use eqn. 2 since the
force in this case is a variable force,
which means to say that a force F is
changing in magnitude and direction
while being applied on a body moving
on a curved path. As shown in Figure, the instantaneous displacement also
has changing magnitude and direction.
dW =Fcos dS eqn. 5

Using eqn. 6 and considering that the mass is nearly in equilibrium,

we assume that the summation of x and summation y components of the
force are zero. Solving for x and y components,
x: FTsin=0 eqn. 7a
y: Tcosw=0 eqn. 7b

Substituting eqn. 7a and eqn. 7b to eqn. 6 will yield,

W = ( mg ) rsin d eqn.8
0

W = ( mg ) (r )(1cos ) eqn.9

Using eqn. 9, the formula for the work done by a force on a curved
path can be obtained. It is consistent with the theory that the potential energy
due to position of a body or height or simply the gravitational energy is
directly proportional to the product of the mass and the height, with the
gravitational acceleration, g, as the proportionality constant.
Mathematically,

PE=mgh eqn.10

Table 2. The second part of the experiment deals with the work by a force
on a curved part. The theory behind was demonstrated using a mass that was
attached at the end of a string tied to an iron stand. The force was applied to
 the mass and was measured using a spring balance. The required data were
obtained by measuring the initial height, length of the string, final height,
angle, and displacement. From that, the work done and the gravitational
potential energy were also determined.

Table 2. Work by a Force on a curved path.

Length of string L= Weigth of mass, w = 2.94N Initial height
0.29m, ho=0.20m

Trial Force Final Increase Angle, Displacement, Work GPE

height, in X
hf height, h
1 5.6 N 0.24 m 0.04 m 50 0.205 m 0.3046 0.1176 J
J
2 6N 0.26 m 0.06 54 0.220 m 0.3515 0.1764 J
J
3 6.2 N 0.29 m 0.08 57 0.235 m 0.3832 0.2352 J
J
4 7.1 N 0.30 m 0.10 66 0.250 m 0.5058 0.294 J

Graph 2. Gravitational Potential energy vs. Height. In order to illustrate the

theory further, when an object was dropped at a certain height, the initial
velocity increases, starting from zero, which implies that there is an increase
in kinetic energy. Conversely, when the objects height increases, the
mechanical energy due to position also increases. When the object was
dropped from a certain height, it gains more energy that produces more
work. When the second object was dropped at a height lower than the first
object, its gravitational potential energy is also lower than the first object.
From that, when an object is dropped, its gravitational potential energy
decreases with height while the kinetic energy increases until such time that
it reaches the ground. That supports the Law of Conservation of Energy
which states that in an isolated system, the total energy is constant and is just
changing from one form to another. As the object moves downward, its
gravitational potential energy is being transformed to kinetic energy. The
same thing when the ball is thrown upward, the kinetic energy is being
transformed to gravitational energy until such time that it reaches its
maximum point when the velocity is zero.
 GRAPH 2

In addition, from graph 2, it is also observed that the computed value for the
work is equal to the value of the gravitational potential energy obtained,
which is consistent with the theory.

CONCLUSION

In E201: Work, Energy, and Power, besides doing the said experiment,
we learned the concept of the Work, Energy, and Power in order to fully
understand these topics in Physics and be able to apply it to real life. Work is
said to be done if a force acting on its body is able to actually move it
through some distance in the direction of the force. Work is defined as the
product of force and its distance. Power is the time rate of doing work while
Energy is the capacity or ability to do work in which it has everal forms.

From the result of the experiment we were able to demonstrate the

these theories from Work, Energy, and Power that are defined in the
experiment. The force in part one was proven to be correct from the
experiment since the fan cart was not moving along the dynamics track
when turned on when the added weight on the pan. The data we gathered
made sense because as shown from Table 1, that as the displacement
increases, the value of work done also increases. They have a directly
proportional relationship. The data we gathered made sense because as
shown from Table 2 tells us that as the height increases, applied force also
increases, and so are the other components such as angle, displacement, and
work increases. They are all directly proportional.

As shown in Graph 2, it was observed that the gravitational potential

energy increases as the increase in the height increases. It is consistent with
the theory that the potential energy due to position of a body or height or
simply the gravitational energy is directly

The experiment gives reasonable results. It has demonstrated the

concepts of Work, Energy, and Power. I could honestly say that the errors
that might have been committed were very least especially in the first part.
The possible sources of error for the first part can be the inaccurate
measurement of the displacement of the photogates since it is placed
manually and the inconsistency of the smart timer since some trials we did
gave us results that were not close to the previous time so we had to run a
test again. I believe that the second part of the experiment is much likely to
have an occurrence of errors because the data gathered is based from
measurements that was done manually. Incorrect measurement can have an
effect to the data. We could recommend that obtaining the measurements
should be done carefully and accurately. Getting the measurements on eye
level can be helpful.

APPLICATIONS

Through the experiment, the students will be able to gain more

knowledge and appreciation about the concepts of work, energy, and power.
According to the language of physics, a person who strains without success
to pull a rock out of the ground has done no work, whereas a child playing
on a playground produces a great deal of work.
Energy, which may be defined as the ability of an object to do work, is
neither created nor destroyed; it simply changes form, a concept that can be
illustrated by the behavior of a bouncing ball. When a force displaces an
object by acting upon it, it is taken that work is done on the system. Force
should be connected to displacement causally for work to take place. Daily
life offers some good examples of work being done on a system - a horse
pulling a cart through the road, a person lifting weight in the gym, a hospital
staff pushing the mop across the floor, a batter hitting the baseball etc. In
every situation described, force exerted by an agent is doing work on a
system.
The experiment can also help the students understand on how the
displacement of an object is important in determining the amount of work
done.