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    Work Power and Enr

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    kimtaehyunfuturegf
    The document discusses measuring work, energy, and power when climbing stairs. It provides the equations for work (Work = mgh), power (P = Work/t), and defines the units joules, watts, and kilowatt-hours. The purpose is for students to time themselves climbing stairs and use their mass and the stair height to calculate the work against gravity and their power level. They will record their results and answer conclusion questions about energy, work, power and sources of error in the measurements.

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    Work Power and Enr

    Uploaded by

    kimtaehyunfuturegf
    18 views5 pages
    The document discusses measuring work, energy, and power when climbing stairs. It provides the equations for work (Work = mgh), power (P = Work/t), and defines the units joules, watts, and kilowatt-hours. The purpose is for students to time themselves climbing stairs and use their mass and the stair height to calculate the work against gravity and their power level. They will record their results and answer conclusion questions about energy, work, power and sources of error in the measurements.

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    Work Power and Enr Copy (1)

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    The document discusses measuring work, energy, and power when climbing stairs. It provides the equations for work (Work = mgh), power (P = Work/t), and defines the units joules, watts, and kilowatt-hours. The purpose is for students to time themselves climbing stairs and use their mass and the stair height to calculate the work against gravity and their power level. They will record their results and answer conclusion questions about energy, work, power and sources of error in the measurements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    18 views5 pages

    Work Power and Enr

    Uploaded by

    kimtaehyunfuturegf
    The document discusses measuring work, energy, and power when climbing stairs. It provides the equations for work (Work = mgh), power (P = Work/t), and defines the units joules, watts, and kilowatt-hours. The purpose is for students to time themselves climbing stairs and use their mass and the stair height to calculate the work against gravity and their power level. They will record their results and answer conclusion questions about energy, work, power and sources of error in the measurements.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Climbing the Stairs

    Measuring Work, Energy, and Power

    Any time work is done on an object the energy of that object is changed. When you climb stairs you do
    work on your mass and increase your potential energy. The amount of work you do is equal to the
    change in your potential energy. Power is the rate at which work is done. If you climb the stairs quickly,
    you operate at a high power level. If you climb the stairs slowly, your power level is low. Work and
    energy are measured in joules (J), and power is measured in watts.

    The equation for the work done in lifting a mass from the ground level to a height h is

    Work = mgh

    where m is the mass of the object in kg, g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2), and h is the height
    to which the mass is lifted.

    The equation for power, P, is the work done divided by time t:

    Work
    P =
    t

    PURPOSE
    You will be timed while climbing up a flight of stairs and will determine the work done against gravity
    and the power level at which you performed the work.

    MATERIALS
    ruler or meter stick bathroom scale
    stopwatch
    PROCEDURE
    1. Stand on a bathroom scale to find your mass in kilograms.

    2. Find a stairway that has a vertical height of at least one floor.

    3. Measure the height of the stairway in meters by measuring the height of one step and multiplying it
    by the number of steps.

    4. Measure the time it takes you to climb the stairs from the bottom to the top. Timing should begin
    the moment your foot touches the first step. Use caution while climbing the steps, and be sure to
    step on each step as you travel up the stairs.

    5. Record the time it takes for you to climb from the bottom of the stairs to the top.

    6. Compute work done against gravity, (Work) and power level, (P) in climbing the stairs using the
    equations below. Record data of all your group mates.

    Work = mgh

    Work
    P =
    t
    Climbing the Stairs
    Measuring Work, Energy, and Power

    DATA AND OBSERVATIONS


    Time to Work done Power
    Height of
    Mass climb the against (Watts)
    Name of Members stairs
    (Kilograms) stairs gravity
    (meters) (seconds) (joules)
    CONCLUSION QUESTIONS
    1. If your potential energy is zero when you are on the ground level, what is your potential energy
    when you reach the top of the stairs?

    2. How would the work done against gravity change if you ran up the stairs in
    a. half the time? Justify your answer.

    b. twice the time? Justify your answer.

    3. How would your power level change if you ran up the stairs in
    a. half the time? Justify your answer.

    b. twice the time? Justify your answer.

    4. Brutus the football player has twice as much mass as you do, but takes twice as much time as you to
    run to the top of the stairs.
    a. Calculate Brutus’s potential energy at the top of the stairs.

    b. How does Brutus’s power compare with yours? Justify your answer.
    5. Express watts in MKS (meters, kilograms, seconds) units.

    6. Utility companies often use kilowatt-hours. What physical quantity is expressed in kilowatt-hours

    7. Discuss two reasonable sources of error in determining your power to climb the stairs, and explain
    how each error increased or decreased your value for the power.

    REFERENCES

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