Principle


In this experiment, pupils should investigate and become familiar
with the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy. Here,
an experimental car will be accelerated by a weight in the earth’s
gravitational field. The accelerating force is deactivated
automatically after a given distance (or height) as the mass
touches the ground. The car continues to move with the speed last
reached. This can be determined using the photoelectric gates and
the timer.


From the given height the pupils should calculate the potential
energy and plot it against v2. The
slope k (with the dimension of a mass) should be compared with the
total mass m. This yields
m = 2 k.
The formula Ekin = 1/2 m
v2, which will be derived elsewhere, should
be made plausible this way.