The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations

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Detail Page

written by Tom Henderson

This page is a tutorial that features bar charts to explore the relationship between work and energy. Work-Energy bar charts are a conceptual tool which depict the amount of each form of energy within a system as it undergoes a particular motion or process. This resource offers comprehensive guidance in how to read and understand energy bar charts, animations that illustrate the processes described, and example problems with solutions. It is part of The Physics Classroom, a collection of online tutorials written for high school physics students.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Work and Energy = Conservation of Energy = Work	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Activity = Tutorial - Audio/Visual = Movie/Animation

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics - Algebra-based Physics - AP Physics	- Activity - New teachers	Currently 1.0/5 Rated 1.0 stars by 1 person Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Learner
Educator
Formats:: text/html
image/jpeg
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2004 The Physics Classroom
Keywords:: animation, conservation of energy, energy, energy bar graphs, friction, kinetic energy, mechanical energy, potential energy, tutorial, work, work-energy theorem
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created November 20, 2007 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: July 19, 2011 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: November 6, 2006

wrong physics and bad pedagogy

Author: John Denker
Posted: December 14, 2010 at 3:57PM

This page is worse than useless.  It bears no useful resemblance to real physics.  Other pages on the classroom.com site reinforce the same misconceptions.

Some of the particulars include:

This page mutilates the distinction between conservation and constancy.

This page says Fspring is <> while Ftens is <>.   But what if we have a spring under tension?  The whole approach is profoundly misguided.

It says <> ... but AFAICT this is completely untrue.  And even if it were true, it would still be bad pedagogy and wrong physics.

» reply

Re: wrong physics and bad pedagogy

Author: John Denker
Posted: Dec 14, 2010 4:02PM UTC

The previous comment was distorted by the markup system.
It was supposed to say:

> This page is
> worse than useless.  It bears no useful resemblance
> to real physics.  Other pages on the classroom.com
> site reinforce the same misconceptions.
>
> Some of the
> particulars include:
>
> This page mutilates the distinction
> between conservation and constancy.
>
> This page says Fspring is ''internal'' while Ftens is ''external''.
> But what if we have a spring under tension?
> The whole approach is profoundly misguided.
>
> It says ''There
> are many sophisticated and worthy ways of explaining
> and distinguishing between internal and external forces.
> Many of these ways are commonly discussed at great
> length in physics textbooks - particularly college-level
> physics textbooks.'' ... but AFAICT this is completely
> untrue.  And even if it were true, it would still
> be bad pedagogy and wrong physics.
«»

» reply

Re: wrong physics and bad pedagogy

Author: Bruce, ComPADRE Dir
Posted: Dec 15, 2010 12:21PM UTC

John, the author of this material is working on changes to this presentation, in particular the use of the terms internal and external as short-hand for conservative and non-conservative.

» reply

Post a new comment on this item

This resource is part of 2 Physics Front Topical Units.

Topic: Conservation of Energy
Unit Title: Teaching About Energy

Work-Energy bar charts are a conceptual tool which depict the amount of each form of energy within a system as it undergoes transfer or conversion from a particular motion or process. This animated tutorial helps students understand the intricate relationship between work and energy, an area of common misconception.

Link to Unit:

Topic: Conservation of Energy
Unit Title: Conservation of Energy

Work-Energy bar charts are a conceptual tool which depict the amount of each form of energy within a system as it undergoes a particular motion or process. This animated tutorial helps students understand conservation of energy as they visualize the relationship between work and energy.

Link to Unit:

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=6132">Henderson, Tom. The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations. November 6, 2006.</a>

AIP Format

T. Henderson, (2004), WWW Document, (https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm).

AJP/PRST-PER

T. Henderson, The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations (2004), <https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm>.

APA Format

Henderson, T. (2006, November 6). The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations. Retrieved December 9, 2024, from https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm

Chicago Format

Henderson, Tom. The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations. November 6, 2006. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm (accessed 9 December 2024).

MLA Format

Henderson, Tom. The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations. 2004. 6 Nov. 2006. 9 Dec. 2024 <https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Tom Henderson", Title = {The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {9 December 2024}, Month = {November 6, 2006}, Year = {2004} }

Refer Export Format

%A Tom Henderson %T The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations %D November 6, 2006 %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Henderson, Tom %D November 6, 2006 %T The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations %V 2024 %N 9 December 2024 %8 November 6, 2006 %9 text/html %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l2c.cfm

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

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The Physics Classroom: The Work-Energy Relationship: Bar Chart Illustrations:

Has Teaching Guide Energizer Model

This interactive tutorial from The Physics Classroom collection provides practice in using and understanding energy bar graphs. It integrates text explanations with animations and user-activated problem sets (with answers provided).

relation by Tom Henderson

Has Student Extra PhET Simulation: Energy Skate Park - Original Version

Explore the transformation of energy between different forms with The Skate Park simulation from PHET.

relation by Tom Henderson

Has Student Extra Flickr Physics

Visit The Physics Classroom's Flickr Galleries and enjoy a visual overview of the topic of work, energy and power.

relation by Tom Henderson

Has Student Extra Flickr Physics

Visit The Physics Classroom's Flickr Galleries and take a virtual ride through the topic of roller coaster physics.

relation by Tom Henderson

Has Teaching Guide Curriculum Corner

Practice makes perfect with this work-energy bar chart exercise from The Curriculum Corner.