In this lab, me and my partner will be using the Lego Mindstorm Experiment. Like before, but this time, we will use it to lift weights with a pulley. Using the motor that moves the car that we used last time, and got a 0.24kg mass weight, we tied it with a string, passing through the pulley, and connected it to the motor. Now, the weights consist of 12 pieces of circled weights, each weight has it’s own certain mass, the smallest one is 0.1kg, the biggest one is 0.5kg, and the rest of the 9 medium one’s are each 0.2g. The motor is connected to the computer to see our measurements on the program LabView. After measuring all the data we get, we will then have to graph the points using Excel.

Our first task was to measure the Speed, and the Acceleration of the weight going upwards and the power being fixed on 75, we tried doing three trials measuring it, each has different mass. First trial had a mass of 0.24kg, second one was 0.19kg, and the last one was 0.11. Our conclusion was after we got the results, the smaller the mass was, the bigger the acceleration and the speed is.

Next, we tried measuring also 3 trials but now, the mass is fixed on 0.17kg and the power is different. We made a table using Microsoft Excel that has the 6 total data of all the trials we made:

You can see in the table that we also got the results of the Potential Energy(P) measured in Joules, and the Power measured in Watts. To get the potential energy, we used the formula P = m.g.h, which is Mass times Acceleration Due to Gravity times the Height between the weights and the pulley. The height is the same on all trials, and it’s 0.205m. The Acceleration Due to Gravity is fixed on 9.8 because it’s the gravity of the earth. So, the first trial becomes this: P = 0.24 x 9.8 x 0.205 = 0.48216 and we did the rest repeating the same process. To get the Power, we do time/ potential energy. So the first trial becomes this: 1.989/0.48216 So to get the power, we first have to find out the potential energy.

Now after explaining how to get the acceleration, speed, potential energy, and power. We will now plot the data using Excel to make the our analysis easier.

First graph was Mass (kg) versus Acceleration (RMP/s), we used all mass and acceleration that had the power fixed on 75. The analysis was a linear graph, and the it showed us that, the more the mass increased, the more the acceleration decreases. As you can see, the line is not going through the points, which is okay though.

On this graph was, Acceleration (RPM/s) versus Power Level (Force). We used all inputs that had the mass fixed on 0.17kg. The analysis showed us again a linear graph but, as the power level increases, the acceleration also increases.

The third one was, Mass (kg) versus Battery Discharge (mV). Again, we used all inputs that had the power fixed on 75. This showed us that as the mass increases, the more battery discharge created increases as well, and is also a linear graph.

Last graph we did, Power (Force) vesus Power level (Watts). Now this one I like because, the linear like passes through all points perfectly unlike the other graphs we did. The inputs we used were all power and power level that had the same mass 0.17 .  As the power level increased, the power is also increasing.

Overall experiment was great and a fun way to learn how to get the velocity, acceleration, learning about how to get the potential energy and that you have to know the potential energy to get the power, we also got to use Microsoft Excel, because I don’t usually use it a lot, it’s helpful for graphing and creating tables. The graph showed us that all the results that we got was either a positive linear, or a negative linear trend line. I feel like I have gained much more experience in this lab and hope we will use the Lego Mindstorm program in the future.