April 17, 2017 Magnetic potential energy lab

Author: Jesus Gonzalez 

Partners: Roya Binjanpour, Stephanie Flores 

Performed: April 17, 2017 

Purpose:

The purpose of this lab was to show and verify that conservation of energy applies in a magnetic potential energy system.

Apparatus:

A glider acting as a cart on an air track was used to make the glider move with almost no friction across the surface.(as shown above) 

Procedure:  

            In the first part of the lab we calculated the separation of the two magnets. We did the same procedure in 5 different trials and for every trial we tilted the track in different angles to be able to plot different points in a graph that would show the relationship between the magnetic force (F) and the separation distance (r). Every time we tilted the track it would give us a different angle because we kept adding blocks to one side of the track causing the angle to become bigger for every trial. Tilting the track also caused the separation of the two magnets to change in every trial.

 The picture that is shown above shows how we used a phone app to calculate the different angles that we got in every trial.

 we used that calipers shown in order to measure the different distances from the magnet that was attached to the glider and the magnet that was attached to the air track.

the blocks shown were put under the air track after every trial. This was done in order to create a different angle in the trial with also created a different (r). 

 Graphs: 

 In this graph we used the the (r) that we got in our 5 trials and the force was used by the equation (F=mgsin(theta). We plotted a F vs r graph using a power law (F=Ar^B). Our A was 6.5x10^-5 (+/-) 2.8x10^-5 our B was -2.308 (+/-) -.1145. We did this in order to form our own equation for the integral of the force. Those calculations are shown in the picture below.

Data: 

The data in the table is the data that we got when we conducted the experiment in 5 trials. The r which is in meters is the distance that we got of the separation between the magnet that was connected by the glider and the magnet connected by the air track. the theta was the angle that we calculated. Ever theta is different because we added blocks in the bottom of the track to make the angle bigger after every trial. We calculated the angle using an app in a phone as shown in the picture below. 

Conclusion:

We used this experiment to derive an equation for potential energy. The model was made for magnetic potential energy as a function of separation distance, which was close to what we had predicted. Kinetic energy changed equally to the potential energy meaning that it was consistent. Even though our calculations were pretty close it was still off in some parts. This happened because there was uncertainty in our calculations and in our equipment. An uncertainty in the lab was the air track because the glider wasn't completely frictionless as it passed.There was also other factors taken into consideration like the sig-figs in our calculations and movement/ shaking of the sensors.