Conserving Energy

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Algebra I: Quadratic Functions

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-84 series

Applications

TI-CBL™/CBR™ App for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

Accessories

CBR™ 2 motion sensor

Other Materials

Meter stick
Wooden board (2 m long)
Dynamics cart (with known mass)
Bricks or books
Masking tape

Resource Types

Lessons

Report an Issue

Conserving Energy

Activity Overview

Students will find both the kinetic and potential energies as the cart rolls down the ramp. They will find the sum of the two energies, and show that this value is constant at all times.

Before the Activity

Connect the calculator to the CBR 2™

Install the TI Connect™ software to analyze data on the computer

See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity

Print pages 45 - 49 from the attached PDF file for your class

During the Activity

Distribute the pages to your class.

Follow the Activity procedures:

Run the Ranger program on the calculator

Place the cart at the top of the inclined plane and position the CBR at the bottom

Release the cart and record data

Observe the distance versus time, and velocity versus time graphs

Determine the velocity of motion

Record the mass of the cart in the data sheet

Calculate the height of the cart in terms of the distance from the cart to the CBR, and the sine of the angle

Calculate the potential and the kinetic energies of the rolling cart

Repeat the experiment and find the sum of the two energies for every trial

After the Activity

Students will complete the Data Sheet and answer questions listed in it.

Review student results

As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging

Re-teach concepts as necessary

Download Files

Download All Files (ZIP)

Before the Activity Files

Teacher Notes PDF Student Activity PDF

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Algebra I: Quadratic Functions

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-84 series

Applications

TI-CBL™/CBR™ App for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

Accessories

CBR™ 2 motion sensor

Other Materials

Meter stick
Wooden board (2 m long)
Dynamics cart (with known mass)
Bricks or books
Masking tape

Resource Types

Lessons

Report an Issue

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Conserving Energy

TI-CBL™/CBR™ App for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

Conserving Energy

Before the Activity Files

TI-CBL™/CBR™ App for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

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