Energy Skate Park Student Exploration Activity
purpose:
The purpose of the energy skate park simulation is to see how energy gets transferred/transformed in a real
world application and verify the conservation of energy theorem. In this simulation you will manipulate the
skater, will change the track, add or take away friction, gravity, and other factors to see the effect of these on a
skater who behaves according to the laws of physics
Directions:
Open the PhET simulation - Energy Skate Park virtual simulation. Click INTRO.
INTRO:
Move the skater to the top of the ramp. Your system is skater + earth WITH NO FRICTION,
I

20. threshold braking in the vehicle's braking system occurs when a. the brake pedal is pushed, heel on floorboard, with full foot pressure. b. the brakes are exerting full braking power, without traction loss. c. the driver begins pushing down the brake pedal, with moderate slowdown. d. the brakes just begin to take hold with a gradual slowdown.

Three different objects, all with different masses, are initially at rest at the bottom of a set of steps. each step is of uniform height . the mass of each object is a multiple of the base mass : object 1 has mass 4..00m , object 2 has mass 1..96m , and object 3 has mass . when the objects are at the bottom of the steps, define the total gravitational potential energy of the three-object system to be zero. if the objects are then relocated as shown, what is the new total potential energy of the system? each answer requires the numerical coefficient to an algebraic expression. each algebraic expression is given using some combination of the variables , , and , where is the acceleration due to gravity. enter only the numerical coefficient. (example: if the answer is 1..23mgd , just enter 1.23)

Argon is adiabatically compressed from an initial volume of 16 liters to a final volume of 2 liters. by what factor do the following quantities change? do they increase or decrease? (a) the rms speed (b) the thermal energy of the gas (c) the molar specific heat cv (d) the pressure