THIS LESSON REQUIRES RULERS or TAPE MEASURES and SPRING METERS.
It also requires apples or small objects, plastic cups and hole punchers.
This lesson explores the question:
“What makes ALL the various types of energy, energy?”
It uses the ideas of length and force to explain.
(The NGSS mandates that forces (pushes and pulls) be taught prior to this class.)
This lesson will serve either as a review or an introduction to forces.
to the image on the next slide.
of energy have in common?
your height.
tape measure.
A height is a distance.
A width is a distance.
What units have you used
to measure distances?
How long is an inch,
a foot, a yard, or a mile?
Think metric! How long is a centimeter, a meter, or a kilometer?
you also need to know what a FORCE is
and how to measure it.
Before Isaac Newton, the concept of inertia didn't exist. So the distinction between mass and weight made no sense when the word was first introduced. And much of the world is stuck with it!
Your mass is the same throughout the universe. Your weight varies with gravity. On Earth it can vary by .7%. On the Moon your mass remains the same as it is on Earth. You are still made of the same amount of stuff, but you weight is six fold less. That is, if you weigh 60 pounds on earth, you weigh 10 pounds on the Moon!
And we are going back to the Moon! So this detail may matter to you -- if you plan to join in that adventure!
are used to
MEASURE
the force of
a PUSH or a PULL.
We measure this PULL in pounds.
to Measure Force
until the zero mark
lines up with the top of the yellow tube.
to the paper clip
on your spring scale.
Does it weigh more than one newton? Most apples do.
You are measuring the force of that PULL
with your spring scale.
Hold up the spring scale.
to PULL down on the spring with the FORCE of ONE newton.
until it weights ONE NEWTON!
have the ABILITY to do WORK.
have to do with energy?
you can measure WORK.
is the ABILITY
to DO WORK?
when you do your chores
or your homework.
as doing something
you don’t whole-heartedly want to do.
How do scientists define work?
when a FORCE moves something
through a DISTANCE.
when a FORCE moves
an object a DISTANCE.
Can you think of
ways you can do work?
or small
piece of paper
10 centimeters
off the table.
a DISTANCE of 10 centimeters!
on the table.
for DISTANCE is a meter.
One unit of measurement
for a FORCE is a newton.
Is there a unit
of measurement
for work?
YES! It is called a JOULE!
is the amount of
work it takes
to lift a small apple
that weighs one newton
a DISTANCE of one meter.
that now weighs one newton?
Lift your munched apple
exactly one meter.
precisely accomplished
one joule of work!
is NO distance at all.
Zero of anything is still zero!
but the wall does not budge, have you performed any work on the wall?
moves an object a DISTANCE.
What does energy have to do with work
the ability to MOVE something
with a FORCE.
to begin.
were presented
in this deceptively
simple simulation.
These ideas are SO profound,
they impact ALL of life:
was an attempt to achieve a balance
of powers, a balance of forces.
If we continue to strive to achieve that,
we are likely to get it right.
if you ADD UP the forces,
the pushes and the pulls,
you are likely going to get it right.
of the forces that counts!
for you to ponder.
was already in motion,
that adding in an EQUAL
force on the losing side,
did not slow down the cart!
If you did not try this,
go back and do it now.
Was it an error in the simulation
It was due to Newton's First Law of Motion:
An object in motion, tends to STAY in motion!
It takes MORE than
a balanced force to reverse course.
Ah, another one of those PROFOUND truths
for you to ponder.
All systems have INERTIA!
energy related
measuring WORK
to do WORK
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