08-April-2015: Conservation of Energy - Mass Spring System

Purpose: We will be determining the graphs of elastic potential energy in the spring, gravitational potential energy in the spring, kinetic energy in the spring, gravitational potential energy of the mass, and kinetic energy of the mass in a vertically-oscillating mass spring system using conservation of energy.

Before building our apparatus we have to define what GPE and KE for the spring will be. Given that the spring is moving differently at certain spots of the spring. We have to integrate both GPE and KE for the spring with respect to y.

The apparatus we set up is a spring attached to a force sensor with a mass hanging and at the bottom is a motion sensor. We take data while holding the spring at rest. Then another as it oscillates.

When we gather all our data we plot it all on to a graph vs. time.

The goal is to have our total work equal 1.



By developing these varying energies over time. We are essentially trying to prove that energy is conserved with in the experiment. The way GPE moves is suppose to be close to equal and opposite to EPE. The total of all energies would have yielded a straight line in a perfect world. But errors do occur in the equipment and measuring uncertainties.