PHYSICS Level 1

My Physics kit

Experiment 1: Levers

Experiment 2: How does a balance scale work?
Here I have two levers. They are connected in the middle, at the point of rotation, like two arms. if both sides are loaded with the same weight, the scale is in balance. If I remove one gear wheel, the other side will be heavier and move downward.

Experiment 3: What does a pulley do and where can I find them?
Pulleys can be found everywhere. They are used in places where the direction of a force must change, for example on elevators, construction sites, on onboard sailboats.

Experiment 4: How can pulleys be put together to make lifting easier?

Two or more pulleys can be put together into a device caled a block and tackle. When lifting the load, I'm changing the direction of the force. I'm pulling down insted of up. And when pulling, I can feel that I need far less force than the weight of the load.

The bloc and tackle was most commonly used on sailing ships to help seamen hoist and secure heavy sails. It is also useful in hoisting up parts at construction sites. Archimedes is said to have invented the block and tackle over 2,200 years ago.

Experiment 5: How can I transmit power from one lace to another?
I build a power transmition. This transmission uses gears. With this, I can transmit a force from one gear to the other and either make it larger or smaller. The small gear has 20teeth, whereas the larger has 40 teeth, which is twice as many. When I turn the large wheel once with the help of the peg (crank), the small wheel turns twice. The score is 2:1 for the small wheel. This is called the transmission ratio.

Experiment 6: How does force relate to motion?
I built a catapult, wich uses force to propel the wooden ball. Without force, there is no acceleration, or change in speed. The catapult uses uses a stretched rubber band to supply the force to the ball. This force gives the ball an acceleration, which means that it flies away in a high trajectory. Gravity forces the ball back to the ground.
Gravity is the attraction of the Earth that keeps us on the ground, without wich we would float off into space. Force is measure in Newton (N) in the metric system and in pounds (Ib) in US conventional system.

Experiment 7: What is energy?

Energy is the ability of a thing to do work, such as move from one place to another.
Types of energy: potencial energy and kinetic energy.
Through the work of pulling the car backwards, energy is stored in the robber band. This stored energy is called potencial energy. When I let the car go, it races away and the energy is change from potencial into movement energy or kinetic energy.