P201 Menu

Exploratories

How Fast Can You Work?

Problem:

How can you determine the amount of work you can do in a specific amount of time?

Materials:

Stop watch, meter stick, weight machine, free weights, or any other device in which a measurable force acts through a distance. A large area in which you can run, skateboard, roller blade, etc. to demonstrate a change in kinetic energy.

Procedure:

Each student will calculate work for a given activity and record the time needed to perform this work. Devise, if possible, a method of expressing the rate at which work is being done. Record all data and calculations on a neatly organized data table (2.205 pounds = 9.81 N)

Summing Up:

1. When was the most work done in the least time? Was this the timed trial when you lifted
the heaviest weight?
2. Compare the rate of work in the following 2 examples, and explain you answer:

a) 30 J in 2 seconds
b) 90 J in 6 seconds.

3. What is the most convenient method of expressing the rate of work?