Rotational Kinetic Energy Lab Report

Victor Gonzalez, Adamaris Ferreira, Juliana Cabrera, Idalys Miranda

In this lab you can see various equations being used and one concept which is Kinetic

Rotational Energy. Some of the equations that we used in this lab were: Ug=mgy, t= √ 2y/a,

v=x/t, and KL=1/2mv2.Ug which is potential gravitational force is the force in which the object

has depending on its altitude. T is the time which is used to find the velocity of the object. The

velocity is used to determine the speed of the marble whenever it was off the table. Linear

Kinetic Energy is the energy that was gained whenever the marble was about to go off the table

and whenever it was about to hit the bottom of the floor. Using the projectile equations is a

necessary thing to do since we are trying to find the missing energy that was lost during the time

that the marble hit the ground. The whole concept of this lab is to really find the missing energy

which is KR (Kinetic Rotational Energy). Over all you are easily able to figure out the different

energies whenever you plugged in the numbers into the equation used during this lab.

Some steps that we followed are the following…

1. Figure out the mass of the marble in kilograms.

2. Figure out the height of the ramp itself in meters.

3. The height of table in meters.

4. Then we found the distance of which the marble hit the ground from the table in meters.

For us to find the distance on where the marble hit the ground we used a blue sheet,

whenever we let go of the marble from the top of the ramp we proceeded to measure the

distance on where the marble landed away from the table. Whenever the marble hit the
 blue paper it made a little dot on the white sheet of paper. We took the distance from the

blue dot and made that our (x).

5. Then we plugged in the weight, height, and g (9.8m/s2) (Ug=m*g*y) find the Ug

(Gravitational Potential energy).

6. Then we figured out the time and we plugged the height of the table, and acceleration

(9.8m/s2) (t= √ 2y/a).

7. After we got the time we plugged that into the velocity equation which we needed to plug

in the distance of where the marble hit the ground and the time (v=x/t).

8. After we had velocity written down we had to plug that into the KL equation which is

KL=1/2mv2.

9. Once we had the Ug and the KL we needed to find the missing energy that was “lost”

during the drop. So, we plugged it into the equation KR= Ug-KL.

10. After we plugged in the numbers we got the missing energy that we wanted to find in the

lab today!

Mass of the Marble 4.57g/1000 = 0.00457kg

HeightR and HeightT Height of the Ramp = HeightR= 0.12m

Height of the Table = HeightT= 0.764m

Distance from the table to 42/100 = x= 0.42m

the impact.

Ug Ug=m*g*y=(0.00457kg) Ug= 0.0054J

(9.8m/s2) (0.12m) =
T T= √ 2y/a= √ 2(0.764)/ T= 0.39s

9.8m/s2 =

V V=x/t = 0.42m/0.39s = V= 1.077m/s

KL KL= 1/2mv2 = KL= 0.00256J

1/2(0.00457kg) (1.077m/s)2=

KR KR= Ug-KL = 0.0054J- KR= 0.00275J

0.00256J =

1. Some of the errors that could have occurred are how far we wanted the ramp away from

the edge of the table and where we wanted to put the marble to start at the ramp. These

different factors would have caused an error in the distance and it would have also caused

an error in the measurements whenever we were measuring the distances in where the

marble hit the ground.

2. The moment of Inertia of the marble is… I=2/5m*r2= 2/5*0.00457kg*0.012m=

0.0000001828 kg*m^2

3. The Kinetic Energy of the hollow sphere will decrease since the velocity is less than the

solid sphere. The reason why the velocity will be less than the solid sphere is that the

equations of moment of inertia for both spheres are different, hints why whenever you

subtract both Moment of Inertia’s you get a larger number from the hollow sphere than

the solid one. Whenever the moment of inertia is greater that usually tends to mean that it

takes a good while for the object to speed up (increase in velocity).

4. The sphere is going to land first since the mass is concentrated in the middle, the reason

for this is because the moment of inertia. Moment of inertia determines what the speed of

the sphere is going to be depending where the mass is located. The equation for the
 Moment of Inertia or a solid sphere is I=2/5*kg*r^2. The number is going to be small

therefore meaning that it will take less time to increase the velocity at a much faster rate.

5. The hoop is going to land first since the moment of inertia of the hoop is greater than the

disc. The equation of moment of inertia for the hoop is I=mr2 and the one for the disc is

I=1/2mr2. The moment of inertia is going to indicate which one of them will go

significantly faster. The one who goes faster is obviously going to land first, therefore the

hoop will land first.

The Rotational Kinetic Energy of the marble at the end of the ramp for this lab report is

going to be 0.00275J. Whenever you use the equation Ug=KL+KR and make KL switch to the

other side by subtracting, then you will get KR=Ug-KL. With this equation you will figure out

the missing energy at the bottom of the ramp. This seems reasonable since you are getting the

energy of a marble which a marble is super small compared to like a bowling ball, which

would obviously have more energy because of the weight and size. If it were a larger object,

then the energy if obviously going to be greater. With that being said whenever you plug in

the numbers into the equation KR=Ug-KL= 0.0054J-0.00265J= 0.00275J.