Mass Spring Lab Online Assignment

Instead of having class face-to-face tomorrow, we were to complete the mass spring lab online assignment. Although I was confused when I arrived on the website, I played around with the different gadgets. I put different sized weights on the springs to see how they varied. The lighter weights sprung up and down faster and longer than the heavier weights. I also got to see how friction plays a part. The more friction, the less the springs bounce. I also noticed that it does not matter how much weight you put on the springs when there is no friction, they will never stop moving. I experimented and put all different sizes on and changed the slider to no friction and they springs kept moving up and down. When I did this, the softness of spring three did not matter either, since I set it so the softest it could go, and the spring never stopped, since there was no friction. This was a neat experiment. It put everything in perspective since it was so interactive. I could see how everything was related. It was also neat that it showed the energy of each spring if you chose. It appeared in a graph as the spring was moving. Another neat thing that this lab could do was see how gravity affected the springs in different places, such as on the moon and or on Jupiter. I really like this lab since it was so interactive and fun. It did not seem like science as I was experimenting with the springs. Overall, I enjoyed this lab.