23 Pre-Lab Questions
These questions are not for marks, but are to help you better understand the theory behind the experiment. Please complete these questions before coming to the lab.
Consider the situation where a ball is falling in a conserved system. It is initially dropped from rest at a height of 15 meters above the ground. At this point, it has a total energy of 120 J.
When the ball is 5 meters above the floor:
- What is the total energy of the ball?
- What is the potential energy of the ball?
- What is the kinetic energy of the ball?
- If air resistance cannot be ignored, how will the potential energy and the kinetic energy of the ball at 5 meters be affected?