To plot the energy of these items and the total energy of the system:
-
Open the plot dialog (click on
) - Leave the Horizontal Axis set to Time. Set the Vertical Axis to "CM 1" "x" "Total Energy" (it ignores the "x" when looking at total energy)
- Click "Add" to add it to the graph without closing the window
- Select "Cart" "Total Energy" and click "Add"
- Select "Mass" "Total Energy" and click "OK" to finalize the graph
The plot should look something like this:
As you might expect, the energy for the system stays relatively constant while the cart gains both potential and kinetic energy and the mass loses potential energy while gaining kinetic energy.
Are the energies of these objects more dependent on potential or kinetic energies? Test your hypothesis by adding kinetic and potential plots to the graph.
