Science Coursework - Investigating How Mass Influences Distance Travelled When Firing A Margarine Tub.

Authors Avatar

Science Coursework – Investigating How Mass Influences Distance Travelled When Firing A Margarine Tub.

Introduction

Aim:  I am going to investigate how far a margarine tub can travel when a force is applied. The possible variables for this experiment include: the force, mass and surface. These could all affect the distance travelled by a projected margarine tub. I have decided that I will change the mass of the tub (variable) but keep the force constant. I am going to use this variable as it is easier to make accurate than surface, which is difficult to give measurements to and force is sometimes unreliable as the only way for us to control the amount of force is with how far the elastic band is pulled back which is difficult to make accurate.

Prediction/Hypothesis

I think the higher the mass of the margarine tub; the less distance the tub will travel. “When a force moves an object, energy is transferred and work is done”. In this experiment the movement indicates unbalanced forces, energy is transferred and wasted as friction. The frictional force is that force which only affects the speed of an object and not the direction. Friction is the force that happens when two things rub together. The effect of friction is usually to slow you down. With less friction, you can move more easily and as there is an increased amount of friction with higher masses of sand it makes it more difficult for the margarine tub to move forwards and the energy is used and wasted when being transferred from potential to kinetic to heat energy.

When the tub is moving it has (translational) kinetic energy and when it stops this kinetic energy is dissipated as heat. The amount of stored energy in the elastic band is transferred to the tub as friction and the greater the mass the more energy needed to move the tub and therefore it will not travel as far.

Energy is defined as the ability to do work.  When the work is actually being done, we term the energy "kinetic."  When the work is waiting to be done, when there is the potential for work to be performed, we term the energy "potential."    Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, potential energy comes from work having been done on an object which was then stored.  For example, a rubber band zinged from your finger has kinetic energy.  While it was stretched, waiting for you to release it, it had potential energy.  The rubber band was stationary, but work had been done on it to move it to its present position. When I pull back the rubber band to a great distance, I am doing more work to it than if I pulled it back only a small distance.  More work means more energy is provided to and stored by the rubber band.  When I release the rubber band, it has more energy to move.  More energy means more work can be done by the rubber band.  There is a connection For moving objects, we can easily calculate kinetic energy using the formula:  KE = (mass x velocity2)/2 or 1/2 mv2

Potential energy, on the other hand, is energy of position, not of motion.  The amount of potential energy possessed by an object is proportional to how far it was displaced from its original position. If the displacement occurs vertically, raising an object off of the ground let's say, we term this Gravitational Potential Energy.  We can calculate the gravitational potential energy of an object with this formula: GPE = weight x height

Join now!

An increase in the weight of an object or the height to which it is raised will result in an increase in the potential energy the object possesses. In our experiment this means that there will be greater potential energy if the elastic band is pulled back further. The elastic potential energy is energy stored when something is stretched or compressed. This is present in the pulled rubber band.

Newton’s second law of motion states that:

II. The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors ...

This is a preview of the whole essay