Development of experimental apparatus for investigating heat generation caused by dissipation of mecanical energy

Abstract

An object of this study is to develop an experimental method showing the energy comversion from mechanical energy to heat in view of an uniformed concept of energy conversion for use in the education step of High School Physics. An apparatus for conducting experiments for investigating the relation ship between work and heat is known for use in High School Physics. However, a method for conducting experiments for grasping directly and quantitatively heat generation by the dissipation of mechanical energy in not known. The author has developed an apparatus capable for grasping such heat generation directly and quantitatively by the following method: 1. Conversion of mechanical energy to heat is measured quantitatively by the elevation of tempera ture brought about by adiabatic compression of gas. 2. A thermistor thermometer capable of measuring fine temperature changes is employed for mea suring the change of temperature of gas. The experiments by use of this method showed that the elevation of temrerature at the time of dissipation of the potential and kinetic energies is approximately proportional to the dropping distance of a weight and the second power of the speed of a car model and also proportional to the mass of the weight and that of the car model employed in the experiments.