EXPERIMENT 4

5. Conclusion
The laboratory experiment we had had a bigger application in our lives than we
had accounted for everyday. As the data and results are analyzed, few conclusions are
made. First of all, the work done is lesser when the person doing the work has less weight
compared to those who are doing work with more weight. Secondly, the power output of
a person who has lesser time in going up and down the stairs is higher but weight is still a
big factor considered in generating the power.
In the second activity, the energy of a tossed ball was analyzed through the motion
detectors. As the ball goes upward, the potential energy increases because the height
increases. The reverse goes for kinetic energy, which greatly decreases as the ball goes up
because the velocity decreases. Going down, the potential energy decreases and kinetic
energy increases again. Ideally, during the entire process, the sum of the kinetic energy
and potential energy is equal to the total energy of the system making the total energy
constant. The Law of Conservation of Mechanical Energy best exemplifies this.
6. Applications
(a) Compare the work that you do when you go upstairs to the work you do in going
downstairs. Based on this, can you explain why it is more difficult to go upstairs
than downstairs?
The work done when going upstairs is against the gravitational force. This means that the
Earth is pulling you down causing you to exert more force in order to move upward. In
contrast, going down the stairs is easier because the gravitational pull is already
downward and the direction of the force is also downward.
(b) A certain professor finds it easy to go upstairs from the ground floor to the third
floor of the Main Building by going up to the second floor using the main stairs,
walking along the corridor of the accounting division and using the side stairs to
go to the third floor. Is there a basis to this point of view of physics?

In going up the two flights of stairs, the professor did work and exerted power. However,
the professor would not be doing work while walking along the corridor of the
accounting division when we apply the formula for work which is W = Fh cos . The
angle when walking along a leveled path is 90

because the force (weight) is going

down while the direction of the motion is going either right or left. The work done,
therefore, is zero since cos 90

is equal to zero. No wonder the professor finds it easy

to go up to the third floor when before ascending another flight of stairs, he did not do
any work.
(c) It is 5 minutes before your 7:00 am class in the fourth floor and you are still in the
ground floor. Will you run or walk upstairs in order not to be late? Assume that
your power output is 15 Watts and 20 Watts when walking and running,
respectively. The vertical distance between the ground floor and the fourth floor is
12 meters and that you weigh 750 N.
Whether I walk or run going to the fourth floor for my 7:00 am class, I will still be late.
When I walk, the time consumed in going up is 600 seconds or 10 minutes. On the other
hand, if I run, 450 seconds or 7.5 minutes will be consumed. I will not be able to be reach
the fourth floor in 5 minutes in both cases. In order to solve this, a power output of 30
Watts should be attained.
(d) An object is thrown vertically up. Neglecting air resistance, how is the change in
the potential energy of the object related to the change in its kinetic energy?
Since potential energy (PE) is directly proportional to the height, the PE of the object
increases because the height increases. In addition, the kinetic energy (KE) decreases
because the velocity of the object decreases as it goes upward. As the object falls from its
maximum height, its PE decreases, because the height decreases; and the KE increases,
because the velocity increases. Neglecting air resistance, the change of potential energy
equals the change of kinetic energy.