Date: ______Name: ______
PAP IPC Laboratory
Simple Machines: Inclined Plane
Materials
board to serve as incline, lab cart, means of raising board, meter stick, protractor, spring scale
Purpose
To measure work with and without an inclined plane
To demonstrate the direction of force applied and motion of an object to work done on object
Procedure
Part One
1. Attach a wood block to the spring scale. Use the spring scale to pull the block one meter
on the table. Pull with a constant force as nearly parallel (0°) to the table as possible.
Record this force in the data table.
2. Repeat step one changing the direction of force from parallel (0°) to 20° from the
horizontal. (Use the protractor to measure the angle.) Remember to use a constant force.
Record this force in the data table. (Refer to your notes for the force calculation.)
3. Repeat step one changing the direction of force from parallel (0°) to 40° from the
horizontal. (Use the protractor to measure the angle.) Remember to use a constant force.
Record this force in the data table. (Refer to your notes for the force calculation.)
Part Two
1. Attach the spring scale to the lab cart. Record the cart’s weight in the data table.
2. Set up an inclined plane using the board and catalogs to raise the board 30-cm to 40-cm
above the table. Record the actual height in the data table. See figure 1.
3. Use the spring scale to pull the lab cart up the incline to the height of the books. Try to
pull as nearly parallel to the surface of the board as possible and use the entire length of the
board. Try to use a constant force. Measure the distance you pulled the cart up the incline.
Record the force needed to move the cart up the incline (effort force) in the data table and
the length of the incline (effort distance).
5. Place the cart vertically on the table. Use the spring scale to raise the entire cart a vertical
distance that is equal to the height of your incline as recorded in the data table. Use a
constant force. Record the force used in the data table (resistance force). See Figure 2
Figure 1 Figure 2
DATA TABLE PART ONE
Angle of Applied Force / Force Applied (N)0° (parallel to table)
20°
40°
DATA TABLE PART TWO
Length of incline (ED)Height of incline(RD)
Force to move cart up incline (EF)
Force to move cart vertically(RF)
Questions
Part One
1. Calculate the work done when moving the wood block.
a) Work done when force was applied at 0° (parallel to table).
b) Work done when force was applied at 20°.
c) Work done when force was applied at 40°.
2. Explain the difference in the amount of work done for each of these trials.
Part Two
1. How much work was done when moving the cart up the incline?
2. How much work was done when moving the cart vertically?
3. Calculate the efficiency of your machine.