Name: Lily Quach Date: 2/20/24
Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: conservation of energy, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, pendulum, potential energy,
velocity
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A toy car is about to roll down a track, as shown 2. A pendulum consists of a weight that is
below. At what point do you think the car will suspended from a pivot. At what point will the
reach its greatest speed? pendulum below move fastest?
✏️ Mark this point on the image. ✏️ Mark this point on the image.
3. What do these two situations have in common?
In both of these two situations, the object will reach its maximum speed at its lowest point
Gizmo Warm-up
Objects have several types of energy. Potential energy depends on an object’s position or shape. Kinetic
energy is the energy of movement. The Energy of a Pendulum
Gizmo allows you to explore how the amounts of these types of
energy change for a pendulum in motion.
1. On the DESCRIPTION pane, change the initial angle (θ) to 40
degrees. Click Play ( ). How does the velocity (speed and
direction) of the pendulum change as it swings from right to
left?
The speed increases as the pendulum gets closer to its
lowest point, but decreases as the pendulum swings upward
again
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
, 2. On the image at right, ✏️
mark the point where the pendulum
swings fastest with an X. Then, circle the two points where the
velocity is zero.
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
Student Exploration: Energy of a Pendulum
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: conservation of energy, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, pendulum, potential energy,
velocity
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A toy car is about to roll down a track, as shown 2. A pendulum consists of a weight that is
below. At what point do you think the car will suspended from a pivot. At what point will the
reach its greatest speed? pendulum below move fastest?
✏️ Mark this point on the image. ✏️ Mark this point on the image.
3. What do these two situations have in common?
In both of these two situations, the object will reach its maximum speed at its lowest point
Gizmo Warm-up
Objects have several types of energy. Potential energy depends on an object’s position or shape. Kinetic
energy is the energy of movement. The Energy of a Pendulum
Gizmo allows you to explore how the amounts of these types of
energy change for a pendulum in motion.
1. On the DESCRIPTION pane, change the initial angle (θ) to 40
degrees. Click Play ( ). How does the velocity (speed and
direction) of the pendulum change as it swings from right to
left?
The speed increases as the pendulum gets closer to its
lowest point, but decreases as the pendulum swings upward
again
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
, 2. On the image at right, ✏️
mark the point where the pendulum
swings fastest with an X. Then, circle the two points where the
velocity is zero.
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
