Soaring Straws

Soaring Straws, a science lab, involved working with a couple of different energies: gravitational potential energy, or GPE, and elastic potential energy, or EPE. The lab conveyed knowledge about the relationship that GPE and EPE share, in an entertaining way. The lab included shooting a rocket using a rubber band and measuring the distance the rocket was shot in meters. The stretching of the rubber band represented the EPE, and the amount of energy stored in the rocket was the GPE in the lab. When the rocket was shot, the amount of stretch and the height were recorded in the Data Table. The rocket was shot three times from the same amount of stretch and then the average height and GPE were found and recorded in the Data Table as well. As the lab reached a conclusion, it was clear from the recorded data that the EPE and GPE were greatly influenced by each other. GPE and EPE share a close relationship. As the EPE, or amount of stretch was increased, the GPE increased automatically. For example: when the amount of stretch was 2 cm the GPE was 10.67 mJ. When the amount of stretch was 3cm, the GPE was 23.88 mJ. When the amount of stretch was 4cm the GPE was 32.85 mJ. Thus this information proves that as the EPE increases, the GPE increases. Lastly, this documented data confirms that the GPE and EPE depend on each other and share a close relationship.

The documentation and data in this lab proved that the energies EPE and GPE are connected to each other and alter because of each other. However, the data might contain possible minor errors. For example: it is not possible to measure EXACTLY how high the rocket went. The measurements might have contained decimals that were overlooked and rounded to the nearest whole number. Furthermore, another possible error could have occurred when different people took turns shooting the rocket. Since all the people are different height, the measuring of the distance the rocket travelled could have been affected. This is another reason measurements could have been altered. To prevent these errors from occurring, the lab could have been modified and enhanced to as close to perfect as possible. For instance: there should have been a certain shooting point. The walls should have been labelled as to where the rocket was suppose to be shot from. This could have made the measurements more accurate. Also, to further improve the lab, the walls could have been taped with meter sticks in several different spots and when the rocket was shot, one person would shoot the rocket while the other would keep an eye on how high it went on the meter stick(s). These improvements would lead to more accurate and official results. Therefore, enhancing the lab could help prevent the possible errors that occurred when doing this lab, for all groups.