Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position or height.
The higher that an object (a toy car) is elevated (higher on a slope), the greater the gravitational potential energy. a doubling of the height will result in a doubling of the gravitational potential energy (the car will roll twice as far).
The more mass that an object has (the heavier it is), the more inertia that an object has (the lazier it is), A more massive object (a heavier object) has a greater tendency to resist changes in its state of motion. When accelerated via gravity, inertia and mass always cancel each other out!
To investigate this, see if a heavy car travels further than a lighter car down a slope?
Q4. CLICK HERE TO SEE / HIDE STUDENT FLIP RESOURCES:
Video: Frictional forces on different surfaces
Video: Click above video to view if in school or if the above link not working
Simulator/Interactives:
Experiment to find out far the car travels when you change the slope and/or weight?
HELP: Click on blue left/right arrows at top of lab screen. Use mouse to change slope (gradient) and drag weights into back of car to experiment. Optionally store your data by clicking on 'table'.
Investigate how far the car travels when you change the weight:
Video: Weight & Acceleration in a vacuum
* IF UNABLE TO ACCESS YOUTUBE VIDEO (requires Flash) TRY:Weight & Acceleration
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A Riddle: Heavy things are lazier than light-weight things, and that's one reason that small things can get even!
Video: Inertia, Mass & Movement
* IF UNABLE TO ACCESS YOUTUBE VIDEO (requires Flash) TRY:Inertia, Mass & Movement
In the video, remember it said that big things are lazier (have more inertia), compared with small things (have relatively less inertia).
The thing to remember is that in science, the more mass an object has, the lazier it is, or more inertia it has.
Sally and and Josh have a disagreement. Sally says that if she throws a ball with a greater speed it will have a greater inertia. Josh says that inertia does not depend upon speed, but it does depend on mass. Who do you agree with? Explain why. The answer is in the DISCOVER section of this wiki - if you can find it!
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