After a homeowner has his roof repaired, the work crew fails to completely clean up and leaves roofing nails scattered in the grass. The homeowner sweeps the yard using a handheld magnet to find and remove the nails. Describe the interaction between the magnet and the roofing nails in terms of changes in energy that take place. Include these words in your response: kinetic energy, potential energy, acceleration, increase and decrease.
When the homeowner moves the handheld magnet over the grass, the roofing nails, which are made of metal, are attracted to the magnet due to the magnetic force. As the nails are pulled upward towards the magnet, they are gaining potential energy. This potential energy increases as the distance between the nail and the magnet decreases.
When the nail finally makes contact with the magnet, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy as the nail accelerates towards the magnet. This acceleration is due to the change in velocity of the nail accelerating towards the magnet. Once the nail is attached to the magnet, the kinetic energy decreases as the nail is no longer in motion.
Overall, the interaction between the magnet and the roofing nails involves a transfer and conversion of energy between potential and kinetic energy as the nails are attracted towards and captured by the magnet.