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Legend

W

= work

F

= force

d

= distance

KE

= kinetic energy

PE

= potential energy

v

= velocity

a

= acceleration

t

= time

P

= power

Interactive Lab

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Work

Purpose:
Calculate work needed to push a 5 kg cart over different distances with = 0.5.
Material(s):
5 kg cart
Background info:
W = F||d
Fg = mg (level ground)
FN = Fg = mg
Ff =
FN = mg
= 0.5
Experiment:

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Calculations:
Since FN equals Fg we can ignore the vertical forces.  Work equals force applied parallel to distance, therefore, pushing the cart at constant acceleration, Ff must equal Fpush.
So we arrive at the formula

Work = Ffd = FNd = mgd

Thus,
0.5 X 5 kg X 9.8 m/s2 X 10 m = 245 J

 

Conclusion:
The more force you apply and further you travel, more work is done.  Here in the experiment, 123 J of energy pushes the cart 5 m of distance.  245 pushes the cart to a distance of 10 m.   And if you apply 1999 J of energy, it spins out of control and runs into someone.   So where do we get so much energy?

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created by Will Kuo and Stan Watterson
thinkquest participants  team 25844
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