Linear Vertical, Support Or Refute The Law Of Conservation Of Energy
Questions
Does the action of a real mass-spring system suspended vertically, support or refute the law of conservation of energy?
What are the dampening properties of a real mass-spring system that vibrates vertically?
Hypothesis If a real vibrating spring suspended vertically undergoes damped harmonic motion, then it will support the law of conservation of energy because the energy at all points of the motion is equal. Even though the total amount of mechanical energy decreases over time, the other energy is not lost, but instead becomes thermal energy. This thermal energy is produced from friction, in the form of both air resistance, as well as internal friction within the spring.
If a real vibrating spring suspended vertically undergoes damped harmonic motion, then the dampening of the spring will be slow, but is instead …show more content…
One source of error in this experiment is that the spring moved partially sideways when the motion should be entirely vertical. As a result of this, the extension of the spring that was measured would be less than its actual extension, and the mass may not have risen as high as it would have otherwise. Checking to see if the spring is perpendicular to the ground could reduce this source of error.
A second source of error in this experiment is the response time between both the start and end of the ten cycles with the start and end of the stopwatch. This source of error is difficult to remove because when using a timer there will always be some delay due to non-instantaneous reaction times. Despite this, the source of error could be removed by using a slow-motion camera. A slow-motion camera would allow one to determine the exact instant when the ten cycles started and ended. This has the ability to significantly increase accuracy because it removes most of the human error inherent in this part of the
Does the action of a real mass-spring system suspended vertically, support or refute the law of conservation of energy?
What are the dampening properties of a real mass-spring system that vibrates vertically?
Hypothesis If a real vibrating spring suspended vertically undergoes damped harmonic motion, then it will support the law of conservation of energy because the energy at all points of the motion is equal. Even though the total amount of mechanical energy decreases over time, the other energy is not lost, but instead becomes thermal energy. This thermal energy is produced from friction, in the form of both air resistance, as well as internal friction within the spring.
If a real vibrating spring suspended vertically undergoes damped harmonic motion, then the dampening of the spring will be slow, but is instead …show more content…
One source of error in this experiment is that the spring moved partially sideways when the motion should be entirely vertical. As a result of this, the extension of the spring that was measured would be less than its actual extension, and the mass may not have risen as high as it would have otherwise. Checking to see if the spring is perpendicular to the ground could reduce this source of error.
A second source of error in this experiment is the response time between both the start and end of the ten cycles with the start and end of the stopwatch. This source of error is difficult to remove because when using a timer there will always be some delay due to non-instantaneous reaction times. Despite this, the source of error could be removed by using a slow-motion camera. A slow-motion camera would allow one to determine the exact instant when the ten cycles started and ended. This has the ability to significantly increase accuracy because it removes most of the human error inherent in this part of the