Energy and Conservation Laws Experiment

Physics Experiment Report Format

Name: Do not expect credit if not included.

Title: The experiment name. Do not include the Module number. Again, do not expect credit if not included.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a statement the experiment is designed to test or disprove. Note: experiments are designed to test or disprove, not prove, hypotheses as there are always additional tests that could be performed. Hypotheses should make specific, testable predictions and are often in IF-THEN form, e.g., “if x is changed, then y will occur.” A hypothesis answers the question, “What is the point of the experiment”?

NOT a hypothesis: “to prove Newton’s 2nd law” or “to see what happens if I…”
IS a hypothesis: “if an object moves with constant velocity, then its distance will increase linearly with time.
Overview

The Overview is a paragraph describing the approach or strategy used to test the hypothesis. It should include what was tested and how it was tested.

Procedures

See Experiment Instructions (use this phrase; do not include the actual procedures from the experiment).

Results

State the most important numerical, graphical or qualitative results obtained from performing the experiment. If there is a data table, include it here.

Uncertainty & Error

Discuss sources of uncertainty (due to limited measurement precision, e.g., length measured to the nearest millimeter) and error. Sources of error include modeling errors (differences between the physical system your predictions are based on, and the real system) and experimental errors, both systematic (errors that always shift results in one direction) and random (equally likely to cause overestimates and underestimates). For computer simulations, discuss real-world sources of uncertainty or error that were not simulated.

Conclusion/Summary

Discuss how the experimental results support rejecting or accepting (again, not proving) the hypothesis. Discuss the relevance of uncertainties/errors to these conclusions. Propose experiment improvements and/or future directions for experimentation.

Application

Discuss at least one real-world application of the physics concept(s) tested in the experiment.