Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to discover if the product of force and distance is universally conserved by using a simple machine.
Lab: In this lab we pulled a car up a ramp at a steady pace and had the electronic device record the mean of the force. Each trial we shortened the distance on the ramp that the car traveled to see if it had an effect on the force. Once all the data was collected we put together our findings using a bar graph.
Key Ideas: We learned that the relationship between force and distance is inversely proportional. This means that if the force goes up, then the distance goes down and if the force decreases, then the distance increases. The area is force times distance equals work (Fd=W). Work is a form of energy measured by joules and a joule is a newton times a meter (Nm). The answer to the big question "is work conserved?"is yes because it always stays the same.
Real world connection: Running. In cross country it is usually harder to run up the shorter but really steep hill than it is to run a longer hill with less of an incline.This is because there is less force going against you on the longer hill than there is on the steep one. Both hills take the same amount of force, because work is universally conserved.
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