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It’s All Uphill Interactive

Background:
In this Interactive, you will analyze the motion of a cart being pulled up an inclined plane at a
constant speed. The angle of the incline can be modified by 10° increments between the values
of 30° and 90°. Three different masses can be selected – 2.0 kg, 3.0 kg, and 4.0 kg. In each
simulation, the cart is pulled to the same height – 1.0 meter above the original starting position.
For each simulation, the force that must be applied is reported on the screen. The displacement
of the cart can be measured using the cm-ruler that is displayed for each trial.

Purpose:
To determine the effect of the angle of an inclined plane upon the amount of force and the
amount of work done when pulling a cart up an inclined plane at a constant speed and to the
same height.

Discussion of Procedure:
Select a mass from one of the three choices. Tap the Run Trial button. The force required to
pull the cart at a constant speed is displayed on the screen; record in the Data Table. The
displacement from the starting position to the final position can be measured using the cm-
ruler; record in the Data Table. (Note that the table lists meters as the unit.) The force and the
displacement vectors are both directed parallel to the inclined plane. Use the force and
displacement to calculate the work done. Repeat the procedure for all angles.
Data tables are provided for a single cart mass. Additional tables can be made if necessary.

Data:
Mass: 3.0 kg
Angle (°) Force (N) Displacement (m) Work (J)
30.0 14.7 N 2m 25.46 J
40.0 18.9 N 1.58 m 22. 88 J
50.0 22.5N 1.3 m 18.80 J
60.0 25.5 N 1.19 m 15. 17 J
70.0 27.6 N 1.08 m 10.19 J
80.0 29.0 N 1.02 m 5.14 J
90.0 29.4 N 1m 0J

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Analysis:
1. In the space below, construct plots of force and work as a function of the incline angle.
Label the divisions along the axes. Construct the best-fit line through the data.

50 50

45
45

40
Force (N) 40

Work (J)
35 35

30 30

25 25

20
20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Angle (°) Angle (°)

2. Describe how varying the incline angle affects the force (if at all).
As the angle increases, so does the force. Furthermore, as the angle increases,
the force difference decreases, falling from 4.2 to 0.4.

3. Describe how varying the incline angle affects the work (if at all).

As the angle increases, so does the work. It's the inverse of the first graph.
The difference in works grows as the angle increases, from 2.58 to 5.05.

4. When work is done by an applied force, the object's energy will change. In this
Interactive, does the work cause a kinetic energy change or a potential energy change?
______________________ Explain your logic.
Work is performed whenever a force is applied to an object, causing it to move. If a force is applied but the object does not move, there is no
work done; if a force is applied but the object moves, there is work done. When an object moves in a direction other than the force's direction,
less work is done than when the object moves in the force's direction. The kinetic or potential energy can change depending on the angle of
the work. As long as the angle is not 90 degrees, there will be work and kinetic energy on the object because a 90-degree angle causes zero
work and no motion, also known aspotential energy.
5. Assuming the starting height is 0.0 m, calculate the potential energy of the cart after it has
been elevated to a height of 1.0 m above the starting location. Please Show Your Work.
PE= mgh
Given: M= 3 kg PE= 3.0 kg (9.8m/s^2) (1m)
G= 9.8 m/s^2
H= 1 m
6. How does your answer to question #5 compare to the work values in the data table?
It is comparable to the work values in the data table in my answer to number 5. The only difference between the two is that we used different
formulas to calculate the work. The data and answers on the data table were obtained using the formula Work = fd cos (theta), and the answer
on number 5 was obtained using the formula P.E=mgh. Finally, various work values are present.

Conclusion:
State a two-part conclusion in which you describe the effect of the inclined angle upon the …
• amount of force required to pull the cart up the hill at a constant speed.
• amount of work done when pulling the cart up the hill at a constant speed.
- To summarize, the greater the angle or the more inclined the angle, the greater the amount of force required to pull the cart up. As shown in the
table above, as the value of the angle or inclined angle increases, so does the value of the force. To summarize, the effect of the inclined angle on
the amount of force required to pull the cart up is proportional, which means that as the angle increases, so does the amount of force.

-To summarize, the effect of the angle on the quantity of work done is that the greater the degree of the angle or more inclined the angle is, the
smaller the amount of labor performed. The effort applied reduces as the angle grows in value, as seen in the table above. At this pace, we may
claim that they are inversely proportional.

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