Marble Power: Does a Higher Start Mean a Bigger Push?
Science Lab · Grade 6 · ngss
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Type
science_lab
Pre Lab
Background: HOOK (5 min, before reading): Hold a marble still at the top of a ramp. Does it have energy? It is not moving, so is it doing anything? Discuss with a partner and write your answer on the line below. Then do the Explore part of the lab. Read the rest of this background AFTER you have collected your data.
AFTER EXPLORING: Scientists describe two main kinds of mechanical energy. **Kinetic energy** is the energy an object has because it is moving. The faster an object moves, the more kinetic energy it has. A rolling marble has kinetic energy, and it can transfer some of that energy to a cup when it hits it, making the cup slide.
**Potential energy** is stored energy that an object has because of its position or arrangement. When you lift a marble up off the table, you do work against gravity, and energy is stored in the system made up of the marble and Earth. This stored energy is called **gravitational potential energy**. The higher you lift the marble, the more gravitational potential energy is stored. The marble does not look different, but its position has changed, so the amount of stored energy has changed.
When the marble rolls down the ramp, gravitational potential energy changes into kinetic energy. At the top, the marble has the most potential energy and almost no kinetic energy. Halfway down, it has some of each. At the bottom, most of the potential energy has become kinetic energy. Scientists use an **energy bar chart** to show this. It is a simple graph with one bar for potential energy and one bar for kinetic energy at a single moment in time. Some energy is also lost as heat and sound from friction, which is why a marble never pushes the cup quite as far as you might expect.
Vocabulary
Term: Potential energy
Definition: Stored energy an object has because of its position or arrangement.
Term: Kinetic energy
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