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BALL ROLL Kinetic vs. Potential Energy

Materials: Dictionary, 3 books of the same size, steel ball, ping pong ball, rubber golf ball, board, cup, ruler. Background Information: Kinetic energy is the energy of MOTION. Potential energy is STORED energy. It is the energy something has because of its position or condition. Kinetic Energy + Potential Energy = Mechanical Energy. Every object has energy, but not every object has equal amounts of energy. Use the dictionary to define the word: Kinetic:

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Procedure: You will build a ramp to roll the three different balls (steel ball, ping pong ball, and golf ball) down. The balls will roll into a cup, which will then move. You will measure how far the cup moves to determine the amount of mechanical energy that was released. Prediction: What do you think will happen? Why? (I think _____ will happen, because)

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Conduct Experiment: Follow the steps carefully and record your observations in the table below. 1. Stack three books. 2. Make a ramp by placing the board on top of the books and the other end on the floor. 3. Place the Styrofoam cup at the bottom of the ramp, making sure that it is touching the board. 4. Place the steel ball at the top of the ramp. Release it to roll into the cup. Once the cup has stopped moving measure how far the cup moved. Measure from the bottom of the ramp to the top of the cup. Record your observation on the observation table in cm. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 using the ping pong ball. 6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 using the golf ball. Observation: Ball Steel Ball Ping Pong Ball Golf Ball Evaluation: Was your prediction correct? This is why I think it happened, and this is what I learned Measurement of Movement (cm)

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