Lab 3

 1. How can we support play that is exciting but not dangerous? 

    *What affects a rider's speed down a slide? 

    *What affects how long it takes a swing to go back and forth? 

To investigate these questions, we took part in constructing a model as a group. As seen in the first photograph above, the procedure to set this investigation up was as follows: securing a wooden rod to the side of a table with a clamp, hanging a various length piece of thread from the rod, and swinging a metal washer back and forth. My group was testing to see if the period of a swing mattered depending on how long the chains were. To do this, we utilized three different lengths of string: 10 in, 15.5 in, and 24 in. In doing this, we ultimately found that the longer the rope length (or swing chain length), the longer period of the swing. 

2. In Thursday's lecture, we dove in further on what kinds of things affect the period of swings. First, we spoke about the different forces acting on a given person swinging. The three forces we discussed were the force of gravity, the force from the swing rope, and the force from the air drag. We then discussed energy and how it plays a role on a swing. Specifically, we talked about kinetic energy and potential energy. Potential energy has changes due to gravity, ultimately affecting the amount of kinetic energy in the period of a swing. 

3. Pressbook Chapter: Pendulums and Energy

• In this chapter, I re-learned about the relationship between potential energy and kinetic energy and how they ultimately affect the forces on a moving object. 
• In this chapter, I found that the “Potential and Kinetic Energy" diagram was the most helpful part for me. When I saw this relationship visually, I was able to make sense of how the kinetic energy changes depending on its force from gravity. 
• I think it would be interesting to keep using pendulums to keep learning about energy. 
• I do not have any questions at this time, but I did really enjoy the videos from this chapter.