Justin Mancino

Michael Sisk, Bryan Lamot

4/1/18
Period A
Power Lab

Introduction:

Work and joules are measurements of energy. Humans and other animals perform various
tasks each day that use these measurements. Running up a hill, curling and dragging a weight,
and push ups are the tasks associated with this lab. Each one requires the body to exert energy,
but at different levels. Therefore, the purpose of this lab is to measure the energy being exerted
by all group members, finding the highest and lowest energy per task, and observing which task
requires the most energy.

Purpose:

How much power or energy is produced when running up a hill, curling and dragging a
weight, and performing push ups?

Hypothesis:

If a group member runs up a hill or incline, then the most work and joules will be
produced.

Materials:

● Ramp
● Stopwatch
● Tape Measure
● 10 lb Weight
● Scale
● Rope
● Spring Scale

Procedure:
Doing Push Ups:
1. Measure the distance from the shoulder to the ground when in pushup position with arms
extended and record in meters.
 2. Measure the distance from the shoulder to the ground when in pushup position with arms
bent to final pushup position and record in meters.
3. Subtract the measurement with arms bent from the measurement with arms extended to
determine the displacement of the action.
4. Put hands on scale while in pushup position with arms extended and record the force in
Newtons.
5. Perform one pushup going from arms bent back to arms extended so that the only
movement is upward which is the same as the displacement and record the time in
seconds.
Running Up a Hill:
1. Measure the length of the middle school ramp from the bottom of the flat section in
located midway through the entire ramp.
2. Calculate the angle of the ramp section using a protractor and finding the angle between
the black covering on the wall and the closest horizontal indentation in the wall.
3. Determine the vertical displacement by finding the height of the ramp using the angle
calculated, the length of the ramp, and the sine trigonometric function.
4. Using a scale, record the weight of the person and convert the value into Newtons.
5. Run up ramp section and record the time in seconds.

Curling a Weight:
1. Measure the distance from the handle of the dumbbell to the ground in meters when the
arm is fully extended downward with the weight in hand.
2. Measure the distance from the handle of the dumbbell to the ground in meters when the
arm is curled in its final position with weight in hand.
3. Subtract the distance of the arm extended measurement from the measurement with the
arm curled to determine the displacement of the dumbbell through the action.
4. Record the weight of the dumbbell being used and convert into Newtons. Then find the
force of the upward motion so that the force is in the same direction as the displacement.
5. Perform one curl up by starting in an arm extended position and curl into an arm bent
position and record the time of the action in seconds.

Dragging a Weight:
1. Set a tape measure on the ground and determine a fixed direction and distance that the
weight will be dragged.
2. Record the weight of the dragged object in Newtons.
3. Attach a rope to the weight and place a spring scale at the end of the rope in order to
calculate the force of the dragging.
4. Place the weight at one end of the tape measure.
 5. Drag the weight by walking at a slow, consistent pace while holding the spring scale
parallel to the ground until you have reached the end of the fixed distance the group has
set.
6. Record the time in seconds and the force in Newtons that is displayed on the spring scale
while completing the action.

Analysis:
Personal Data

Displacement
Activity Force (N) (m) Time (sec) Work (J) Power (W)
Doing a
Pushup 533.414 0.37 0.7 197.3632 281.9474
Running Up a
Hill 755.678 1.15 2.28 869.0297 381.1533772
Curling a
Weight 43.61 0.63 0.65 27.4743 42.2682
Dragging a
Weight 12.5 3 13.03 37.5 2.8780
 Group Member Data

Group Displacement
Member Force (N) (m) Time (sec) Work (J) Power (W)
Michael 711.186 1.15 2.35 817.8639 349.5144872
Bryan 644.546 1.15 1.88 741.2279 394.2701596
Conclusion:
 My hypothesis, If a group member runs up a hill or incline, then the most work and joules
will be produced, was proven correct. The work and power produce from running up an incline
was much greater than any of the other activities. This may have been due to the increased
displacement and time to finish the task compared to the other activities. My work (J) generated
by running up a hill was 869.0297J while the power (W) was 381.1533772W. These were the
two greatest numbers from my data collected. It can also be observed in my group members data.
Both Michael and Bryan’s greatest work and power produce came from running up a hill. Also,
something to note is how close our data for work and power was for running up the hill.
Although these numbers are far greater than the other activities, the validity remains
because of the distance we had to run and the incline of the hill, which put the most force against
us. Any possible error could have been measuring the distance to run too far, not running fast
enough, or miscalculating start and stop times. Even then, the data is to great to alter the final
answer on which activity requires the most work and power. The least work produced came from
curling a weight, 27.4743J, while the least power produced came from dragging a weight, 2.8780
W.