Transcript SKATEBOARD SCIENCE

Learning about Mechanics: the physics of motion
By doing this project:
We build skate park obstacles
and test them with marble
skaters.
We also learn how to:
• keep the marble skater safely
on the track
• reduce loss of energy through
friction
• ensure the marble skater has
enough energy to flow from
one obstacle on to the next
Vocabulary
 MECHANICS : The branch of physics that deals with
motion.
 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY: Energy can neither be
created nor destroyed.
Conservation of Energy
 Energy is never created nor destroyed.
Energy can be transformed from one
form to another by various means, but
the total energy into the
transformation will always be equal to
the energy out of the
transformation.
Conservation of energy cont’d…
 Usually in a transformation, more than
one form of energy is produced.
For example: When electrical energy is transformed into
mechanical energy by a motor, heat energy is also
produced. In this case, the electrical energy in will be
equal to the mechanical energy and the heat energy
out.
TRANSFER OF ENERGY
Energy has been passed from
one body to another without
change.
Example: a pool ball striking
another transfers its kinetic
energy to the second ball.
Transformation of Energy
 Refers to a change in the form of energy.
 Example: when a light bulb transforms electrical
energy into light energy.
FORCE
 Force is a push or pull. It can be applied directly (with
a hand) or indirectly (with a magnet)
 By itself, a force does not do work, nor does it require
energy. Example: a tightrope
KINETIC ENERGY
 This refers to moving, mechanical
energy.
When a rolling marble skater reaches the
bottom of the chute it has maximum
kinetic energy.
POTENTIAL ENERGY
 This refers to stored Mechanical energy. When you
move the marble skater to the top of the chute you are
storing potential energy.
Potential and Kinetic Energy and
the Conservation of Energy
 Throughout Skateboard Science you see these ideas
work together. When a marble skater is lifted to the
top of a chute, a certain amount of potential energy is
given to it. As the marble skater rolls down the chute
its potential energy is transformed to kinetic energy.
At the bottom of the chute, the marble skater has no
remaining potential energy because all of it has been
transferred to kinetic energy. As a result the marble
skater is travelling at high speed. The transformation
traded height for speed. This trade is reversed as the
marble skater rolls up an obstacle. Speed is traded for
height.
FORMS OF ENERGY (ones we are
familiar with)
Mechanical
Electrical
Chemical
Heat
Light
FRICTION
 The transfer of kinetic energy from one moving
body to the atoms matter around it.
INERTIA
 The word used to describe the law of physics
which states that stopped objects will remain
stopped and a moving object tends to maintain its
direction and speed.