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In the FlinnPREP™ Inquiry Lab for AP® Physics 1: Conservation of Energy on an Inclined Plane, students use critical-thinking and the conservation of energy principle to predict the distance a small steel ball travels when launched.
Includes access to exclusive FlinnPREP™ digital content to combine the benefits of classroom, laboratory and digital learning. Each blended learning lab solution includes prelab videos about concepts, techniques and procedures, summary videos that relate the experiment to the AP® exam, built-in student lab safety training with assessments, and standards-based, tested inquiry labs with real sample data. FlinnPREP™ Inquiry Lab Solutions are adaptable to you and how you teach with multiple ways to access and run your AP labs.
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AP Physics 1, Big Idea 5, Investigation 6
When a small steel ball rolls down an inclined plane, its potential energy becomes kinetic. Students use their critical-thinking skills and knowledge of the conservation of energy principle to predict the distance a small steel ball travels when launched from an inclined plane set atop a table. In the introductory activity, students determine how changing the release height, mass of the ball and angle of the inclined plane may affect the launch distance. In the guided-inquiry activity, students apply their initial findings to accurately launch a steel ball a specific distance. Differences between experimental and theoretical launch distances (and horizontal velocities) force students to explain energy gains or losses.
As an additional opportunity for inquiry, students may use photogate timers to more accurately determine launch speeds. Also, students may use the ideas presented in this lab to determine the initial horizontal velocity of other projectiles, such as a rubber band.
Complete for 24 students working in groups of three. Photogate timers are optional and available separately. All materials are reusable.
FLINNprep is just one of the powerful learning pathways accessed via PAVO, Flinn’s award-winning gateway to standards-aligned digital science content paired with hands-on learning.
HS-PS3-1. Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.
HS-PS3-2. Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative position of particles (objects).
HS-PS3-3. Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
HS-ETS1-2. Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
