Lesson Plan: Potential Energy Mathematics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to find potential energy and the change in it and use it to solve different problems.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- find the change in an object’s potential energy based on its position using vectors,
- find the gravitational potential energy of an object relative to the ground,
- calculate the change in an object’s gravitational potential energy as it moves to a given height,
- find the mass or height of an object using the gravitational potential energy,
- find the change in an object’s potential energy using the work-energy principle,
- solve real-world problems involving gravitational potential energy.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the scalar product of vectors,
- the work-energy principle.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- elastic potential energy.
