Science Homework Help

San Diego Mesa College Energy Considerations Remote Lab Report

 

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY- No animation/simulation here, but a provided diagram that relates to a frictionless incline with a sliding mass.  Use the given data and fill in the blanks, recalling that idealized frictionless surfaces and objects do conserve the total mechanical energy of the systems. 

The interrupted line marks the elevation level above the zero level of the gravitational potential energy.  This ideal simple pendulum starts its swinging from this elevation level and swings in between points marked as A and D via points B and C. Location marked as C has the zero level of the GPE associated to it.
Location labeled with A is the starting point of the motion of the swinging pendulum; it is at rest, above the zero level of the gravitational potential energy of position marked as C.
Location labeled B is some instantaneous position in between, with both KE and GPE values.
Location labeled C is the rest, or equilibrium position location, with its zero level of the gravitational potential energy and maximum value of the KE.  At C, when swinging, this simple pendulum has only KE max value, as exactly over there is zero GPE (as it goes through the equilibrium, through the zero level of reference for the gravitational potential energy value.)
Location labeled D is the symmetric over on the other side max value of GPE, as the instantaneous velocity at D is zero.  From A to D, the simple pendulum swings without any friction, being brought through the equilibrium position by the gravity force acting on it. 

Knowing that this idealized simple pendulum is free of any non-conservative forces (such as the force of friction) fill in the blanks of the KE, GPE and total mechanical energies on the diagram that shows the four different locations of the swinging of this pendulum.  
Look carefully at the given energy values, recall what the theorem of the conservation of the total mechanical energy teaches us and compute the other energy values that are expected.