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Home Concept Builders Work and Energy Match That Bar Chart Help Help 2

Match That Bar Chart - Questions 2 Help

The total energy in the universe is constant. Energy can be transformed from one form to another or transferred from the system to the surroundings (or vice versa), but in the end the total amount of this energy remains the same. A bar chart is a useful tool for illustrating how energy is stored, transferred, and conserved.

There are three similar versions of this question. Here is one of those versions:
 

Version 1:
A coaster car rolls along a "friction-free" track. Use the given Energy Bar Chart to identify the appropriate Bar Charts for locations A, B, and C.

To be successful with this question, you will need to know about the two forms of energy. You will also need to understand the significance of the "friction-free" statement in the description of the situation.

Energy Forms

Kinetic Energy (KE): Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. If an object is moving , then it has kinetic energy. If an object speeds up between initial and final states, then the final KE is greater than the initial KE. And the opposite is true for a slowing down object.

Gravitational Potential Energy (PE): Gravitational potential energy is the stored energy of vertical position resulting from the interaction of the Earth and an object. If the system includes the Earth and the object, then it possesses this form of energy. The amount depends (in part) on height. Objects at higher positions have more PE than those at lower positions.

 

"Friction Free"

Friction would do work upon the moving car. This work would remove mechanical energy from the car, changing it into thermal energy. But in this question, the surface is said to be friction-free. The normal force acting upon the car acts perpendicular to the motion and does not do work on the car. And so the total mechanical energy of the car is constant. As the car coasts up and down along the track, KE is changed to PE and PE back to KE. But the sum or total amount of these two forms stays constant. If the height decreases, then you can expect the PE to decrease. The KE will then increase to make up for this loss of PE.

There's a lot of concepts in this Concept Builder. Most are covered at The Physics Classroom Tutorial:

Kinetic Energy

Potential Energy

Bar Chart Illustrations

Concept Builder Teacher Notes Directions