Power Lab

Aim: To investigate whether lifting faster changes the work done, the power, or both.

Part A — Does lifting faster change anything?

1. Choose the 60 kg load, a target height of 3.0 m and the Mid speed band. Press Lift, and when the winch stops record the weight F, the height d and the time t in your table.
2. Press Lower / Reset. Keep the same load and target height, but set the speed to Slow. Lift again and record a second row.
3. Compare the two rows. Which readings changed, and which stayed exactly the same?

Part B — What does the work done depend on?

1. Calculate the work done for both Part A lifts and type it into your table.
2. Did lifting more slowly change the work done?
3. Now keep the speed on Mid. Repeat the lift with a different load, then with a different target height, calculating the work done each time. Which two quantities in your table does the work done depend on — and which quantity does it ignore completely?

Part C — Quantifying power

1. Calculate the power for every row and add it to the table.
2. Lift the 60 kg load to 3.0 m on Slow, then Mid, then Fast, recording each lift. Compare the three times, then compare the three powers. What pattern links them?
3. Look across all of your rows: when the work done is the same but the time is different, how are the two powers related to the two times?

Part D — What does power actually measure?

1. Two winches do the same job — same load, same height — but one takes twice as long. Use your table to decide which is more powerful, and say what "more powerful" means here.
2. Can two different lifts have the same power but different work done? Hunt through the loads, heights and speed bands for a pair, and add both rows to your table.
3. In one sentence, using your own results: what does power tell you that work done cannot?