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Teachers' Domain - Digital Media for the Classroom and Professional Development Search Teachers' Domain Go User: My Folders Loading... Create a new folder Upload Media My Groups No groups created yet. Create a new Group Join a Group My Profile HELP | SIGN OUT Please sign in for full access This Teachers' Domain feature requires registration, which is simple, safe, and free. Register Now Citation "Potential and Kinetic Energy: Spool Racer." Teachers' Domain. 29 Jan. 2004. Web. 3 Feb. 2012. .

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Signing in now will connect your and Teachers' Domain accounts, so that in the future you will automatically be signed into Teachers' Domain when you come from . Potential and Kinetic Energy: Spool Racer Resource for Grades K-8 | Citation Media Type: Video Running Time: 2m 28s Size: 7.5 MB View or Download SAVE TO FOLDER Loading... Save Cancel Share | Source: ZOOM Resource Produced by: Collection Developed by: Collection Credits Collection Funded by: See Also: National K -12 Subject: Objects in Motion Most of the time when we think about energy, we think of movement and action. But energy can be stored in unmoving objects, too. In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two cast members demonstrate how to build a spool racer, a tabletop vehicle that stores energy -- its source of power -- in the elasticity of a rubber band. Permitted use: Download and Share Supplemental Media Available: Potential and Kinetic Energy: Spool Racer (Document) Accessibility Features: Caption, Transcript Background Essay In order to move, all vehicles must overcome the forces that hold them in place, especially gravity and friction. They do this by generating forces of their own, pushing and/or pulling against the forces that resist their motion. Most vehicles use some kind of fuel, like gasoline, to generate their power; others use the wind or electricity. Regardless, all vehicles -- in fact, all things that move -- use energy in some form or another to move. Without it, they wouldn't budge an inch. Energy is the driving force behind all types of change in the physical world. It makes things happen. However, energy can also be stored. Batteries, for example, are designed to store electrical energy, which can be tapped at the flick of a switch. Somewhat surprisingly, all objects have the capacity to store energy. The act of placing a book on a shelf, for instance, increases that book's potential energy. While this energy may not be obvious, it is there, waiting to be released. If, for example, the book fell or the shelf collapsed, the stored energy would be converted into kinetic energy, the energy of motion. Potential energy comes in many different forms. The book on the shelf, or a rock sitting atop a mountain, holds what scientists call gravitational potential energy. Fuels store chemical potential energy in the bonds that hold their atoms together. The rubber band that powers the spool racer used in this ZOOM video segment stores the energy required to stretch it or wind it up. This is called elastic potential energy. When the rubber band is released, it returns to its natural state, and its stored energy is converted into kinetic energy, the movement of the mechanism that drives the vehicle forward. Print Background Essay Discussion Questions In the video segment, what is the role of the rubber band? Why does it help make the spool racer go? Use the terms kinetic energy and potential energy to describe the spool racer. How would the spool racer's performance change if you put a pencil on each side? Can you suggest ways to make sure the race is fair? How might you redesign the spool racer if you were to build one? Why would you do that? What could you do to make the spool racer go faster? Print Discussion Questions Transcript KEIKO: Eleanor M. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sent us these instructions to build a spool racer. All you need are some spools, toothpicks, pencils, metal washers, rubber bands and tape. The first thing you have to do is put a rubber band through the middle of your spool. What I do is put the rubber band on a toothpick, like this. MIKE: Did you still have it on the other side? All right, good, cool. KEIKO: Now... and on the other end... you put a pencil. MIKE: There you go. KEIKO: That's kind of loose, so you probably should double it, maybe. MIKE: Yeah, wrap it around the pencil twice. KEIKO: So, we'll just put this on like this. MIKE: Yep. Now, to get your spool racer to go faster, you snap off the ends of your toothpick, so it's right... even with the ends of the spool like that. Okay, then you have to tape it down so it'll be sturdy. KEIKO: There you go. MIKE: Okay. Now, you hold the rubber band on one side and take out the pencil, because you have to put a washer on now so it'll go more smooth. Grab the pencil... and put it back in. And... KEIKO: …double it. (laughs) MIKE: Want to do the honors? KEIKO: Okay. Now you just wind it up... MIKE: …until it comes back to you. KEIKO: Yay! MIKE: All right, here we go. Let's see how this baby works. KEIKO: Go! It's not going... MIKE: Oh, wait. Maybe it's too far up now. There we go! KEIKO: There we go! MIKE: All right, you want to race now? KEIKO: Sure. MIKE: I got one ready. Welcome to the ZOOM 500. KEIKO: Wait, how do I know if I overwound it? MIKE: You don't. All right, ready? KEIKO: Okay. MIKE: You get to say "Go ahead." KEIKO: Ready... Set... Go! MIKE: Oh, no! Print Transcript Standards About Standards | Report a Standards Mismatch About Standards | Report a Standards Mismatch About Standards | Report a Standards Mismatch   close Report a standards correlation problem To help improve this service, please report and describe any standards correlations that you find to be inaccurate. close About standards correlation Academic standards correlations on Teachers' Domain use the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) database of state and national standards, provided to NSDL projects courtesy of JES & Co. We assign reference terms to each statement within a standards document and to each media resource, and correlations are based upon matches of these terms for a given grade band. 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