Pyramid Lab

Pyramid Lab

This week in class, we performed an experiment about pyramids and how ramps were used to create them. I really found it amazing how the pyramids were created in times with little to no technology.

Big Question: Is the product of force and distance universally conserved?
Answer: Yes, because the law of conservation of energy.

Before we started the lab, we watched this video to find out more about how ramps were used in ancient Egyptian times. 

We may not notice them, but ramps are all around us in our daily lives.

In the lab, we made 3 different ramps that all had an end height of 11 cm. We were required to figure out the amount of work. We first started off by pulling the car 9cm, (which was the height of the books) and this took 2.5 Newtons. Next we dragged the car on the track 140cm which took .15 Newtons. For our last test, we dragged the car 100cm which took .2 Newtons. We came to a conclusion that the greater the distance, the less force required to pull the car.  Using the formula W=FD, we were able to to answer the big question with, yes, energy is conserved.

Being a skier, I use ramps to jump onto a box, shown in the picture above. The ramp makes it easier for me to get on the box and complete my trick.