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\section*{Conservation of Energy}
In today's lab we will investigate a typical first year textbook problem (which you will find as 7.46 in your text, and which I have copied for you), a problem which you should be able to solve without too much trouble in a few minutes (nb: what I think is a few minutes may well be a longer time than you think of as a few minutes). If you have difficulties with this problem after discussing it in your group, ask for help from one of the instructors (and make a note to yourself that you may want to go back and study some more before the test next Tuesday!).

As you solve the problem, think about (and explain in your log!) what simplifying assumptions you make. That is, what does the book mean when it asks you to consider the car as a particle? Once you have solved the problem and have an answer, think about how you can test your result experimentally. What we are doing is testing the assumption of treating the car as a particle in an ideal world. We will be using HotWheels instead of a roller coaster, as I could not get funding to build a roller coaster, and there was some worry that we could not afford to lose students in a laboratory mishap. It is, therefore, up to you to put together a track on which you can test how close to ideal a HotWheels car is to an idealized particle.

Presumably, you have some expectation of the result of you first trials (that is, releasing the car from the height you calculate in the ideal case). Write down your prediction, together with why you expect whatever it is you expect BEFORE you perform the experiment. Be sure to note how many times you perform each trial, and remember you are trying to find the lowest point at which you can reproducibly release the car and have it complete the loop. 

If there is a difference between the value you calculate and the one you find experimentally, what is the cause of this difference? Please note that answers such as "luftmodstand" and "gnidning" are unacceptable. What is acceptable is a QUANTITATIVE estimate of how large an effect such non-conservative forces have on your system. Discuss with your group and with your instructors how you might go about making measurements on which to base this estimate.
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Ian Bearden 


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