Conservation

of Energy Lab

Objectives:
To calculate how much gravitational and kinetic
energy a ball has while moving in free-fall.
Apply the law of conservation of energy in order
to check for energy lost internally.

Materials:
Computer w/ Logger Pro
LabQuest Mini Interface
Motion Detector
!
Baseball
Wire Basket

Initial Questions:
1. What form or forms of energy does the ball have while momentarily at
rest at the top of the path?
2. What form or forms does the ball have while in motion near the bottom of
its path?
3. If there are no frictional forces acting on the ball, how is the change in the
balls potential energy related to the change in the kinetic energy?

Procedure:
1. Measure the mass of the baseball and record it in your data chart. (An
example is on the following page.
2. Connect the motion detector with the LabQuest Mini Interface.
Set the motion detector sensitivity to Ball/Walk. Place the
motion detector on the Floor and cover it with the wire basket.
3. Open the file 16 Energy of a Tossed Ball from the Physics with Vernier
folder.
4. In this step, you will toss the ball straight upward above the
motion detector and let it fall back toward the motion detector.
a. Using both hands, hold the ball roughly 0.25 m directly
above the motion detector.
b. Have your partner click
to start data collection.
c. Wait one second then toss the ball 0.5 m to 1.0 m
upward. Move your hands out of the way once you
release the ball. (You will get the best results if you toss
Motion Detector
and catch the ball from 0.5 m above the motion
detector.)
d. Verify that the position vs. time graph
corresponding to the free fall motion is parabolic in shape, without
spikes or flat regions, before you continue. If necessary, repeat the
data collection until you get a good graph. When you have good
data on the screen, proceed to the analysis section.

Data Table:
Copy this data chart into your lab notebook:
Mass of the Ball:
(kg)




Gravitational Kinetic
Total
Internal
Position:
Time: Height: Velocity:
Energy:
Energy: Energy: Energy:
(s)
(m)
(m/s)
(J)
(J)
(J)
(J)
After Release






0

Between Release






and Top
Top of Path








Between Top







and Catch
Before Catch









Analysis:
1. Click Examine, , and move the mouse across the position or velocity
graphs of the motion of the ball to answer these questions.
a. Identify the portion of each graph where the ball had just left your
hands and was in free fall. Determine the height and velocity of
the ball at this point. Enter your values in your data table.
b. Identify the point on teach graph where the ball was at the top of
its path. Determine the time, height, and velocity of the ball at this
time. Enter your values in your data table.
c. Find a time where the ball was moving downward just before it
was caught. Measure and record the time, height, and velocity of
the ball at that time.
d. Choose two more points, approximately halfway in time between
the three recorded so far, and record the times, heights, and
velocities of the balls at those times.
e. For each of the five points in your data table, calculate the
gravitational, kinetic, internal, and total energy. Use the position of
the motion detector as the zero of your gravitational potential
energy.
2. Calculate the gravitational, kinetic, total, and internal energy at each
stage.

KE = 1 2 mv 2 , GPE = mgh , TE = KE+ GPE , IE = TE0 TE

3. How well does your experiment show conservation of energy?
4. How efficient is your toss? (What percentage of the initial total energy is
available at the end?)

Extension:
1. Plan an experiment, including a material list,
procedure (with diagrams), and data chart, to
investigate the energy loss for several bounces of a ball.