OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this experiment is to better understand forces and torques when an object is at static equilibrium.
INTRODUCTION:
In order for an object to be in static equilibrium, meaning at rest (zero acceleration and velocity), the sum of all external forces acting on that object along any axis must be zero.
F ⃗net= ∑▒〖F ⃗_i=0〗→∑▒〖F_ix=0;〗 ∑▒〖F_iy=0;〗 ∑▒F_iz =0; [1]
In addition, because the object is not rotating, the sum of all torques in any axis must be also be zero. τ ⃗_net=∑▒〖τ ⃗_i=0〗→∑▒〖〖(-τ〗_icw+τ_icw)=0;〗 [2]
Torque (τ), also known as moment of force is a vector quantity "that meaures the tendency of an applied force to cause rotation"[3] in either clockwise (cw) or counterclockwise (ccw). The equation to…show more content… Mass of 500g (M) was placed on the center of the ruler, a distance (l) between the pivot to force. The left end of the horizontal rod was supported on the pivot as shown in Figure 3 and the other end on the hanger F. Force (F) and distance (d) was meaured when the system was in static equilibrium. Steps 3 and 4 were twice more for different values of M and l.
Figure 4: Part 3 when system is at equilibrium with parallel forces (Ryerson University - 2014). All materials for part three of this experiement were gathered. Mass of 500g (M) was placed on the center of the ruler between P and F as shown in Figure 4. The left end of the horizontal rod was then supported with the hanging weight P and the other end to the other hanging F. Both F and P were adjusted accordinaly in order to reach static equilibrium. The forces F, Mg and P were noted down. Step 4 were reapest twice more for different values of M and l.
RESULTS AND CALCULATIONS:
Table 1: This data shows the mass of the ruler, which will be used many times throughout the lab.
Mass of Ruler 227 grams (0.227 kg)
Part 1:
Table 2: This data shows results and calculations obtained from the lab for part…show more content… The accuracy of an experiment is reduced to the presence of experimental errors in the lab. One experimental error which may have occured during this lab is the weight of the meter stick which may have not been uniformaly distructed along the meter stick. Because the meter stick is made out of plastic, the left end of the meter stick sometimes is not exactly at the pivot point. This causes the experiement to be inaccurate because meter is will be at static equilibrium. Another experimental error, which may occurred during the lab is when measuring the mass of the meter stick. We eliminated as much possible errors by tarring the scale once the mass was on the scale, but the scale could go up to only a tenth of a decimal therefore causing a measurement error of hundredth of a gram. Also that same value was used throughout the lab therefore also causing propagated error when there is a combination of the same measurement error was used over and over again. For improvement, there should be an electronic scale that can measure up to a hundredth of a