Lab Manual 1
Lab Manual 1
Lab Manual 1
Benjamin Crowell
Fullerton College
www.lightandmatter.com
Copyright (c) 1999-2008 by B. Crowell. This lab manual is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike license, version 1.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/. If you agree to
the license, it grants you certain privileges that you would not otherwise have, such as the right to copy the
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also copy this book under the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.2, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.txt,
with no invariant sections, no front-cover texts, and no back-cover texts.
2
Contents
1 Conservation Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Conservation of Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 The Earth’s Gravitational Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4 Absolute Zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5 Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6 Conservation of Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7 Newton’s Second Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
8 Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
9 Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
10 The Force Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
11 The Momentum Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
12 Torque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
13 The Moment of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
14 Torque in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix 1: Format of Lab Writeups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Appendix 2: Basic Error Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Appendix 3: Propagation of Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Appendix 4: Graphing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Appendix 5: Finding Power Laws from Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Appendix 6: Using the Photogate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Contents 3
4 Contents
Contents 5
1 Conservation Laws
Apparatus is a statement that something always remains con-
stant when you add it all up. Most people have a
Part A: vacuum pump (Lapine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 general intuitive idea that the amount of a substance
electronic balance (large capacity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 is conserved. That objects do not simply appear
plastic-coated flask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group or disappear is a conceptual achievement of babies
Part B: beaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group around the age of 9-12 months. Beginning at this
propyl alcohol 200 mL/group age, they will for instance try to retrieve a toy that
canola oil 200 mL/group they have seen being placed under a blanket, rather
funnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/group than just assuming that it no longer exists. Con-
100-mL volumetric flask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group servation laws in physics have the following general
rubber stopper, fitting in features:
volumetric flask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
1-ml pipette and bulb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group Physicists trying to find new conservation laws
magnetic stirrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group will try to find a measurable, numerical quan-
triple-beam balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/group tity, so that they can check quantitatively whether
it is conserved. One needs an operational def-
inition of the quantity, meaning a definition
that spells out the operations required to mea-
Goal sure it.
People believe that objects cannot be made to disap- Conservation laws are only true for closed sys-
pear or appear. If you start with a certain amount tems. For instance, the amount of water in a
of matter, there is no way to increase or decrease bottle will remain constant as long as no wa-
that amount. This type of rule is called a conser- ter is poured in or out. But if water can get in
vation law in physics, and this specific law states or out, we say that the bottle is not a closed
that the amount of matter is conserved, i.e., must system, and conservation of matter cannot be
stay the same. In order to make this law scientifi- applied to it.
cally useful, we must define more carefully how the
“amount” of a substance is to be defined and mea- The quantity should be additive. For instance,
sured numerically. Specifically, there are two issues the amount of energy contained in two gallons
that scientifically untrained people would probably of gasoline is twice as much as the amount of
not agree on: energy contained in one gallon; energy is addi-
tive. An example of a non-additive quantity is
temperature. Two cups of coffee do not have
Should air count as matter? If it has weight, twice as high a temperature as one cup.
then it probably should count. In this lab, you
will find out if air has weight, and, if so, mea- Conservation laws always refer to the total amount
sure its density. of the quantity when you add it all up. If you
add it all up at one point in time, and then
Should the amount of a substance be defined in come back at a later point in time and add it
terms of volume, or is mass more appropriate? all up, it will be the same.
In this lab, you will determine whether mass
and/or volume is conserved when water and How can we pin down more accurately the concept
alcohol are mixed. of the “amount of a substance”? Should a gallon
of shaving cream be considered “more substantial”
than a brick? At least two possible quantities come
Introduction to mind: mass and volume. Is either conserved?
Both? Neither? To find out, we will have to make
Styles in physics come and go, and once-hallowed
measurements.
principles get modified as more accurate data come
along, but some of the most durable features of the We can measure mass by the “see-saw method” —
science are its conservation laws. A conservation law when two children are sitting on the opposite sides
7
A Density of air one funnel that you will use only for the oil, since
You can remove the air from the flask by attach- the oil tends to form a film on the sides.) Finally,
ing the vacuum pump to the vacuum flask with the gently pour the alcohol on top. Alcohol does not mix
rubber and glass tubing, then turning on the pump. with cooking oil either, so it forms a third layer. By
You can use the scale to determine how much mass making the alcohol come exactly up to the mark on
was lost when the air was evacuated. the calibrated flask, you can make the total volume
very accurately equal to 100 mL. In practice, it is
Make any other observations you need in order to hard to avoid putting in too much alcohol through
find out the density of air and to estimate error bars the funnel, so if necessary you can take some back
for your result. out with the pipette.
B Is volume and/or mass conserved when two If you put the whole thing on the balance now, you
fluids are mixed? know both the volume (100 mL) and the mass of
the whole thing when the alcohol and water have
The idea here is to find out whether volume and/or
been kept separate. Now, mix everything up with
mass is conserved when water and alcohol are mixed.
the magnetic stirrer. The water and alcohol form a
The obvious way to attempt this would be to mea-
mixture. You can now test whether the volume or
sure the volume and mass of a sample of water, the
mass has changed.
volume and mass of a sample of alcohol, and their
volume and mass when mixed. There are two prob- If the mixture does not turn out to have a volume
lems with the obvious method: (1) when you pour that looks like exactly 100 mL, you can use the fol-
one of the liquids into the other, droplets of liquid lowing tricks to measure accurately the excess or
will be left inside the original vessel; and (2) the deficit with respect to 100 mL. If it is less than 100
most accurate way to measure the volume of a liq- mL, weigh the flask, pipette in enough water to bring
uid is with a volumetric flask, which only allows one it up to 100 mL, weigh it again, and then figure out
specific, calibrated volume to be measured. what mass and volume of water you added based on
the change in mass. If it is more than 100 mL, weigh
the flask, pipette out enough of the mixture to bring
the volume down to 100 mL, weigh it again, and
make a similar calculation using the change in mass
and the density of the oil. If you need to pipette out
some oil, make sure to wash and rinse the pipette
thoroughly afterwards.
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
P1 Give an example of two things having the same
mass and different densities.
P2 Give an example of two things having the same
density and different masses.
Here’s a way to get around those problems. Put the P3 Why can the density of water be given in a
magnetic stirrer inside the flask. Pour water through book as a standard value under conditions of stan-
a funnel into a volumetric flask, filling it less than dard temperature and pressure, while the mass of
half-way. (Do not use the pipette to transfer the water cannot?
water.) A common mistake is to fill the flask more
than half-way. Now pour a thin layer of cooking P4 What would your raw data in part A be like if
oil on top. Cooking oil does not mix with water, air had no weight? What would they be like if air
so it forms a layer on top of the water. (Set aside did have weight?
9
2 Conservation of Energy
Apparatus face box.
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
P1 If w is the width of the vane, and tb is defined
as suggested above, what is the speed of the cart
when it passes through the photogate?
P2 Given the x and the angle θ at which the track
is inclined, find an equation for the height h. Note
that in the real lab, you are free to choose either
end of the track as one to raise, and there is actually
nothing physically special about the point marked
x = 0 at one end of the centimeter scale. First start
off by deriving your expressoin for h using any simple
assumption you find convenient about where x = 0
is located. Next, consider what effect, if any, there
would be on conservation of energy if the centime-
ter scale was unglued and shifted to the right by a
certain amount.
P3 It is not possible to measure θ accurately with
a protractor. How can θ be determined based on
the distance between the feet of the air track and
the height of the wood block?
Analysis
Graph U , K, and the total energy as functions of
x, with error bars (see appendices 1, 2, 3, and 4),
all overlaid on the same plot. Make sure to include
the point with K = 0. As a shortcut in your error
analysis, it’s okay if you do the error analysis for
11
3 The Earth’s Gravitational Field
Note to the lab technician: The computers to use height (h1 ) takes a smaller time (∆t1 ) to reach the
are the ones with labels on their sides saying Lassie, floor, and the ball released from the greater height
Fang, and Buck. (h2 ) takes a longer time (∆t2 ). The time intervals
involved are short enough that due to the limita-
tions of your reflexes it is impossible to make good
Apparatus enough measurements with stopwatch. Instead, you
will record the sounds of the two balls’ impacts on
(two stations):
the floor using the computer. The computer shows
vertical plank with electromagnets
a graph in which the x axis is time and the y axis
steel balls (2/station)
shows the vibration of the sound wave hitting the
Linux computers with Audacity installed (in 416T)
microphone. You can measure the time between the
two visible “blips” on the screen. You will measure
three things: h1 , h2 , and the time interval ∆t2 − ∆t1
between the impact of the second ball and the first.
Goal From these data, with a little algebra, you can find
Make a high-precision measurement of the strength g.
of the Earth’s gravitational field, g, in Fullerton. The experiment would have been easier to analyze if
we could simply drop a single ball and measure the
time from when it was released to when it hit the
Introduction floor. But since our timing technique is based on
When objects fall, and all forces other than grav- sound, and no sound is produced when the balls are
ity are negligible, we observe that the acceleration released, we need to have two balls. If h1 , the height
is the same, regardless of the object’s mass, shape, of the lower ball, could be made very small, then it
density, or other properties. However, the acceler- would hit the floor at essentially the same moment
ation does depend a little bit where on the earth the two balls were released (∆t1 would equal 0), and
we do the experiment, and even bigger variations in ∆t2 −∆t1 would be essentially the same as ∆t2 . But
acceleration can be observed by, e.g., going to the we can’t make h1 too small or the sound would not
moon. Thus, this acceleration can be considered as be loud enough to detect on the computer.
a property of space itself, and we can refer to it as
the gravitational field in that region of space. Just B Using the computer software
as you would use a magnetic compass to find out There are three Linux computers in 416T that have
about the magnetic field in the classroom, you can the right software and hardware. They’re labeled
use dropping masses to find out about the gravita- Lassie, Fang, and Buck. (On Fang, only sound in-
tional field. In this experiment, you’ll measure the puyt works, not output.) First let’s see how to record
gravitational field, g, in the classroom to sufficiently yourself on the computer saying “hello.” Use the
high precision that, if everybody does a good job and xmix or xmixer program to set the record and mic
we pool and average everyone’s data to reduce ran- levels all the way up. Start up the sound recording
dom errors, we should be able to get a value that is program, called Audacity. Set the record level on
measurably different from the generic world-average high, using the control marked − . . . + next to the
value you would find in a textbook. microphone icon. Record your sound.
A Measuring g precisely Before you get down to serious science, you may en-
joy listening to your own voice reversed in time. A
You will measure g, the acceleration of an object in fun diversion is to write a sentence down backwards,
free fall, using electronic timing techniques. The idea read it out loud, and then electronically reverse it
of the method is that you’ll have two steel balls hang- so it’s forward again. It sounds sort of like someone
ing underneath electromagnets at different heights. with a thick Hungarian accent.
You’ll simultaneously turn off the two magnets us-
ing the same switch, causing the balls to drop at To find out how long a sound is, you can use the
the same moment. The ball dropped from the lower curson and click to find the time corresponding to
13
with propagation of errors; get help from your in-
structor if necessary.
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
P1 If your instructor has assigned homework prob-
lem 43 from ch. 0 of Simple Nature,don’t bother
turning in another copy of your work for this prelab
question. Derive an equation for g in terms of the
quantities you’ll measure, which are h1 , h2 , and the
time interval ∆t2 − ∆t1 . The point of the lab is to
measure g, so don’t just say “well of course g is 9.8
m/s2 .” (You should check your equation by using
the answer checker for the homework problem.)
Apparatus
gas capillary tube
large test tube
mercury thermometer
glass syringe
electric heating pad
oven mitts
latex tubing
ice
string
funnels point. (If you leave the thermometer in the water
clamps while it’s heating, you’ll be able to observe later the
gripper clamps interesting fact that the water stops heating up once
it reaches the boiling point.) If the water starts boil-
ing before you’re ready, just turn off the heat and
reheat it later – it doesn’t cool off very fast.
Introduction
The capillary tube is sealed at the bottom and open
If heat is a form of random molecular motion, then at the top, with a large bulb full of dessicant just
it makes sense that there is some minimum temper- below the top to keep the air inside dry. There is
ature at which the molecules aren’t moving at all. a small amount of mercury inside the tube. Right
With fancy equipment, physicists have gotten sam- now, the mercury is probably “floured,” i.e., broken
ples of matter to within a fraction of a degree above up into small pieces sticking on the sides of the tube.
absolute zero, but they have never actually reached The idea is to collect the mercury into a single drop,
absolute zero (and the laws of thermodynamics ac- with a sample of air trapped in the capillary tube
tually imply that they never can). Nevertheless, we under it. The mercury simply acts as a seal. As the
can determine how cold absolute zero is without even air is heated and cooled, it expands and contracts,
getting very close to it. Kinetic theory tells us that and you can measure its volume by watching the
the volume of an ideal gas is proportional to how mercury seal rise and drop. By the way, don’t be
high it is above absolute zero. In this lab, you’ll scared of the mercury; mercury vapor is a deadly
measure the volume of a sample of air at tempera- poison, but liquid mercury is entirely harmless unless
tures between 0 and 100 degrees C, and determine you ingest it or get it in an open cut. There is a small
where absolute zero lies by extrapolating to the tem- filter made of glass wool at the top end of the bulb,
perature at which it would have had zero volume. which will keep the mercury from getting out.
Remove the gas syringe from the box, being care-
Observations ful not to let the glass plunger drop out and break.
Connect it to the capillary tube with a piece of tub-
Tie a short piece of string to the thermometer so ing.
that you’ll be able to pull it back out of the beaker
when you want to without dipping your hands in First you need to get the mercury into a single blob
hot water. Start heating the water up to the boiling in the cavity at the top of the capillary, where it
widens out just below the bulb. If it’s already form-
17
5 Interactions
Apparatus ball being pushed outlines two relationships involv-
ing four objects:
single neodymium magnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
triple neodymium magnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
compass
triple-arm balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/group
clamp and 50-cm vertical rod for holding balance up
string
tape
scissors
According to Aristotle, there are asymmetries in-
heavy-duty spring scales
volved in both situations.
rubber stoppers
(1) The earth’s role is not interchangeable with that
of the rock. The earth functions only as a place
where the rock tends to go, while the rock is an
Goal object that moves from one place to another.
Form hypotheses about interactions and test them. (2) The hand’s role is not analogous to the ball’s.
The hand is capable of motion all by itself, but the
ball can’t move without receiving the ability to move
Introduction from the hand.
Why does a rock fall if you drop it? The ancient If we do an experiment that shows these types of
Greek philosopher Aristotle theorized that it was be- asymmetries, then Aristotle’s theory is supported.
cause the rock was trying to get to its natural place, If we find a more symmetric situation, then there’s
in contact with the earth. Why does a ball roll if you something wrong with Aristotle’s theory.
push it? Aristotle would say that only living things
have the ability to move of their own volition, so the
ball can only move if you give motion to it. Aristo- Observations
tle’s explanations were accepted by Arabs and Euro-
The following important rules serve to keep facts
peans for two thousand years, but beginning in the
separate from opinions and reduce the chances of
Renaissance, his ideas began to be modified drasti-
getting a garbled copy of the data:
cally. Today, Aristotelian physics is discussed mainly
by physics teachers, who often find that their stu- (1) Take your raw data in pen, directly into your lab
dents intuitively believe the Aristotelian world-view notebook. This is what real scientists do. The point
and strongly resist the completely different version is to make sure that what you’re writing down is
of physics that is now considered correct. It is not a first-hand record, without mistakes introduced by
uncommon for a student to begin a physics exam recopying it. (If you don’t have your two lab note-
and then pause to ask the instructor, “Do you want books yet, staple today’s raw data into your note-
us to answer these questions the way you told us was book when you get it.)
true, or the way we really think it works?” The idea
(2) Everybody should record their own copy of the
of this lab is to make observations of objects, mostly
raw data. Do not depend on a “group secretary.”
magnets, pushing and pulling on each other, and to
figure out some of the corrections that need to be (3) If you do calculations during lab, keep them on
made to Aristotelian physics. a separate page or draw a line down the page and
keep calculations on one side of the line and raw
Some people might say that it’s just a matter of
data on the other. This is to distinguish facts from
definitions or semantics whether Aristotle is correct
inferences.
or not. Is Aristotle’s theory even testable? One
testable feature of the theory is its asymmetry. The Because this is the first meeting of the lab class,
Aristotelian description of the rock falling and the there is no prelab writeup due at the beginning of
the class. Instead, you will discuss your results with
18 Lab 5 Interactions
your instructor at various points. B Qualitative observations of the interaction of
two magnets
A Comparing magnets’ strengths
Play around with the two magnets and see how they
To make an interesting hypothesis about what will interact with each other. Can one attract the other?
happen in part C, the main event of the lab, you’ll Can one repel the other? Can they act on each other
need to know how the top (single) and bottom (triple) simultaneously? Do they need to be touching in or-
magnets’ strengths compare. It would seem logical der to do anything to each other? Can A act on B
that the triple magnet would be three times stronger while at the same time B does not act on A at all?
than the single, but in this part of the lab you’re go- Can A pull B toward itself at the same time that
ing to find out for sure. B pushes A away? When holding one of the heavier
magnets, it may be difficult to feel when there is any
push or pull on it; you may wish to have one person
hold the magnet with her eyes closed while the other
person moves the other magnet closer and farther.
19
strongly the magnet is being pushed or pulled by the you’re completely done with your analysis — it’s no
other magnet. fun to have to rebuild it from scratch because you
made a mistake!
How do you think the amount of pushing or pulling
experienced by the two magnets will compare? In D Measurement of interactions involving ob-
other words, which reading will change more, or will jects in contact
they change by the same amount? Write down a hy-
pothesis; you’ll test this hypothesis in part C of the You’ll recall that Aristotle gave completely different
lab. If you think the forces will be unequal predict interpretations for situations where one object was
their ratio. in contact with another, like the hand pushing the
ball, and situations involving objects not in contact
Discuss with your instructor your results from parts with each other, such as the rock falling down to
A and B, and your hypothesis about what will hap- the earth. Your magnets were not in contact with
pen with the two balances. each other. Now suppose we try the situation shown
Now set up the experiment described above with two below, with one person’s hand exerting a force on the
balances. Since we are interested in the changes in other’s. All the forces involved are forces between
the scale readings caused by the magnetic forces, you objects in contact, although the two people’s hands
will need to take a total of four scale readings: one cannot be in direct contact because the spring scales
pair with the balances separated and one pair with have to be inserted to measure how strongly each
the magnets close together as shown in the figure person is pulling. Suppose the two people do not
above. make any special arrangement in advance about how
hard to pull. How do you think the readings on the
When the balances are together and the magnetic two scales will compare? Write down a hypothesis,
forces are acting, it is not possible to get both bal- and discuss it with your instructor before continuing.
ances to reach equilibrium at the same time, because
sliding the weights on one balance can cause its mag-
net to move up or down, tipping the other balance.
Therefore, while you take a reading from one bal-
ance, you need to immobilize the other in the hori-
zontal position by taping its tip so it points exactly Now carry out the measurement shown in the figure.
at the zero mark.
You will also probably find that as you slide the Self-Check
weights, the pointer swings suddenly to the oppo-
site side, but you can never get it to be stable in Do all your analysis in lab, including error analysis
the middle (zero) position. Try bringing the pointer for part C. Error analysis is discussed in appendices
manually to the zero position and then releasing it. 2 and 3; get help from your instructor if necessary.
If it swings up, you’re too low, and if it swings down,
you’re too high. Search for the dividing line between
the too-low region and the too-high region. Analysis
If the changes in the scale readings are very small In your writeup, present your results from all four
(say a few grams or less), you need to get the mag- parts of the experiment, including error analysis for
nets closer together. It should be possible to get the part C.
scale readings to change by large amounts (up to 10
or 20 g).
Part C is the only part of the experiment where you
will be required to analyze random errors using the
techniques outlined in Appendices 2 and 3 at the
back of the lab manual. Think about how you can
get an estimate of the random errors in your mea-
surements. Do you need to do multiple measure-
ments? Discuss this with your instructor if you’re
uncertain.
Don’t take apart your setup until lab is over, and
20 Lab 5 Interactions
21
6 Conservation of Momentum
Apparatus have any numerical values for the velocities, but sup-
pose we say that the initial velocity of the incoming
computer with Logger Pro software cart is one unit. Does it look like conservation of
track momentum was satisfied?
2 dynamics carts and 2 carts with magnets
1-kg weight B Mirror symmetry
500 g slotted weight Now reenact the collision from part A, but do every-
masking tape thing as a mirror image. The roles of the target cart
2 force sensors with rubber corks and incoming cart are reversed, and the direction of
motion is also reversed.
M × +M ×
Qualitative Observations =? M × +M × ,
First you’re going to observe some collisions between What happens now? Note that mathematically, we
two carts and see how conservation of momentum use positive and negative signs to indicate the direc-
plays out. If you really wanted to take numerical tion of a velocity in one dimension.
data, it would be a hassle, because momentum de- C An explosion
pends on mass and velocity, and there would be four
different velocity numbers you’d have to measure: Now start with the carts held together, with their
cart 1 before the collision, cart 1 after the collision, magnets repelling. As soon as you release them,
cart 2 before, and cart 2 after. To avoid all this com- they’ll break contact and fly apart due to the re-
plication, the first part of the lab will use only visual pulsion of the magnets.
observations. M × +M ×
Try gently pressing the two carts together on the =? M × +M × ,
track. As they come close to each other, you’ll feel Does momentum appear to have been conserved?
them repelling each other! That’s because they have
magnets built into the ends. The magnets act like D Head-on collision
perfect springs. For instance, if you hold one cart Now try a collision in which the two carts head to-
firmly in place and let the other one roll at it, the wards each other at equal speeds (meaning that one
incoming cart will bounce back at almost exactly the cart’s initial velocity is positive, while the other’s is
same speed. It’s like a perfect superball. negative).
A Equal masses, target at rest, elastic collision M × +M ×
Roll one cart toward the other. The target cart is =? M × +M × ,
initially at rest. Conservation of momentum reads
E Sticking
like this,
Arrange a collision in which the carts will stick to-
M × +M × gether rather than rebounding. You can do this by
=? M × +M × , letting the velcro ends hit each other instead of the
where the two blanks on the left stand for the two magnet ends. Make a collision in which the target is
carts’ velocities before the collision, and the two initially stationary.
blanks on the right are for their velocities after the M × +M ×
collision. All conservation laws work like this: the =? M × +M × ,
total amount of something remains the same. You
don’t have any real numbers, but just from eye- The collision is no longer perfectly springy. Did it
balling the collision, what seems to have happened? seem to matter, or was conservation of momentum
Let’s just arbitrarily say that the mass of a cart is still valid?
one unit, so that wherever it says “M x” in the equa-
tion, you’re just multiplying by one. You also don’t
23
7 Newton’s Second Law
Apparatus of masses, but keep the total amount of mass con-
stant and just divide it differently between the two
pulley holders. Remember to take the masses of the holders
spirit level themselves into account. Make sure to perform your
string measurements with the longest possible distance of
weight holders, not tied to string travel, because you cannot use a stopwatch to get an
two-meter stick accurate measurement of very short time intervals.
slotted weights The best results are obtained with combinations of
stopwatch weights that give times of about 2 to 10 seconds.
foam rubber cushions Also, make sure that the masses are at least a few
hundred grams or so on each side.
Goal Self-Check
Find the acceleration of unequal weights hanging Compare theoretical and experimental values of ac-
from a pulley. celeration for one of your mass combinations. Check
whether they come out fairly consistent.
Observations
Analysis
Use your measured times and distances to find the
actual acceleration, and make a graph of this versus
M − m. Show these experimentally determined ac-
celerations as small circles. Overlaid on the same
graph, show the theoretical equation as a line or
curve.
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
P1 Criticize the following reasoning: The weight
fell 1.0 m in 1 s, so v = 1 m/s, and a = v/t = 1 m/s2 .
P2 Since that won’t work, plan how you really will
Set up unequal masses on the two sides of the pulley, determine your experimental accelerations based on
and determine the resulting acceleration by measur- your measured distance and times.
ing how long it takes for the masses to move a cer-
tain distance. Use the spirit level to make the pulley
vertical; otherwise you get extra friction. Use rela-
tively large masses (typically half a kg or a kg each
side) so that friction is not such a big force in com-
parison to the other forces, and the inertia of the
pulley is negligible compared to the inertia of the
hanging masses. Do several different combinations
26 Lab 8 Work
to the cart with a piece of string. Find the combined rest at the same point, and when you are initially
spring constant of the two springs, k, from the slope choosing this release point, make sure that it is not
of the graph. so far from the center that the springs are completely
bunched up or dragging on the track. Don’t forget
Determining the spring constant: method 2 that the x you use in the spring’s energy should be
the distance from the equilibrium position to the po-
sition where the vane is centered on the photogate
The second technique for determining k is to pull the — if you don’t think about it carefully, it’s easy to
cart to one side, release it, and measure the period make a mistake in x equal to half the width of the
of its side-to-side motion, i.e., the time required for vane.
each complete repetition of its vibration. From the
period, T , you can determine k. The period can
be found very accurately by using a stopwatch to Prelab
time many oscillations in a row without stopping.
This method therefore gives a very accurate value The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
for k, which you should use in your analysis of the you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
conservation of energy. Your k value from method 1 ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
is still useful as a check, however. you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
Observations P1 What measurements besides those mentioned
The technique is essentially the same as in lab 2, above will you need to do in lab in order to check
which you may want to review. Instructions for use conservation of energy?
of the Vernier Timer software are given in Appendix P2 Find the value of x from the figure below. (I’ve
6; you want the mode for measuring how long the made the centimeter scale unrealistic for readability
photogate was blocked. The two springs are at- — the real track is more than a meter long, not 14
tached to the cart by sticking them directly through centimeters.)
the holes in the cart (not through the bumper, which
would cause the springs to drag on the track). At
the ends of the track, the springs can be attached us-
ing alligator clips, again taking care to attach them
high enough so they don’t drag.
Throughout the lab, you should only leave the air
blower turned on when you are actually using the
air track. In the past, we have burned out motors
or even melted hoses by leaving the air blowers on
continuously.
Before you start taking actual data, check whether
you have excessive friction by letting the computer
record data while the cart vibrates back and forth Self-Check
a few times through the photogate. If the air track
is working right, all the time measurements should Calculate the energies at the extremes, where U = 0
be nearly the same, but if the data show the cart and K = 0, and see whether the energy is staying
slowing down a lot from one vibration to the next, roughly constant. You should do this self-check as
then you have a problem with friction. The most early as possible in the lab, so that you can make
common causes of excessive friction are springs that sure you’re not spending lots of time collecting data
are dragging on the track or springs that are not that turn out to be bogus.
horizontal, and thus tipping the cart and causing
one of its edges to drag.
Measure the velocity of the cart for many different
Analysis
values of x by moving the photogate to various po- Graph U , K, and the total energy as functions of
sitions. Make sure you always release the cart from x, with error bars (see appendices 1, 2, and 3), all
overlaid on the same plot. Make sure to include the
27
points with K = 0 and U = 0. As a shortcut in your
error analysis, it’s okay if you do the error analysis
for your most typical data-point, in which the energy
is split roughly 50-50 between U and K, and then
assume that the same error bars on U , K, and total
energy apply to all the other points on the graph as
well.
Discuss whether you think conservation of energy
has been verified.
28 Lab 8 Work
29
9 Resonance
Apparatus
vibrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
stopwatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
multimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
banana plug cables
Thornton power supplies (in lab benches in 416)
Leybold 521 545 17-volt DC power supplies1
24 V AC power supplies
Goals
Observe the phenomenon of resonance.
Electrical setup, top view.
Investigate how the width of a resonance de-
pends on the amount of damping.
Introduction
To break a wine glass, an opera singer has to sing If the motor is stopped so that the arms are locked in
the right note. To hear a radio signal, you have to place, the metal disk can still swing clockwise and
be tuned to the right frequency. These are examples counterclockwise because it is attached to the up-
of the phenomenon of resonance: a vibrating system right rod with a flexible spiral spring. A push on the
will respond most strongly to a force that varies with disk will result in vibrations that persist for quite
a particular frequency. a while before the internal friction in the spring re-
duces their amplitude to an imperceptible level. This
would be an example of a free vibration, in which
energy is steadily lost in the form of heat, but no
external force pumps in energy to replace it.
Suppose instead that you initially stop the disk, but
then turn on the electric motor. There is no rigid
mechanical link to the disk, since the motor and disk
are only connected through the very flexible spiral
spring. But the motor will gently tighten and loosen
the spring, resulting in the gradual building up of a
vibration in the disk.
Observations
Simplified mechanical drawing of the vibrator, front view. A Period of Free Vibrations
Start without any of the electrical stuff hooked up.
Twist the disk to one side, release it, and determine
Apparatus its period of vibration. (Both here and at points
later in the lab, you can improve your accuracy by
In this lab you will investigate the phenomenon of timing ten periods and dividing the result by ten.)
resonance using the apparatus shown in the figure. This is the natural period of the vibrations, i.e., the
1 or HP6204B 40-volt supplies, if the Leybold supplies period with which they occur in the absence of any
aren’t bought because of budget issues driving force.
30 Lab 9 Resonance
B Damping ing the move. To compensate for this, the currents
Note the coils of wire at the bottom of the disk. you should use should be based on which oscillator
These are electromagnets. Their purpose is not to you have. Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 should use
attract the disk magnetically (in fact the disk is the oscillators labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, B, and D, respec-
made of a nonmagnetic metal) but rather to increase tively. If your oscillator is 2, 3, or 5, you should use
the amount of damping in the system. Whenever a 300 mA for the low current and 600 mA for the high;
metal is moved through a magnetic field, the elec- if it’s 1, 4, B, or D, use 225 and 450 mA. You will be
trons in the metal are made to swirl around. As using these two current values throughout the lab.
they eddy like this, they undergo random collisions C Frequency of Driven Vibration
with atoms, causing the atoms to vibrate. Vibration
of atoms is heat, so where did this heat energy come Now connect the 24 V AC power supply to the mo-
from ultimately? In our system, the only source of tor.2 The motor has coarse (0 to 100) and fine (-6 to
energy is the energy of the vibrating disk. The net +6) adjustment knobs. (On the older models these
effect is thus to suck energy out of the vibration and are marked “groβ” and “fein,” and have different
convert it into heat. Although this magnetic and scales.) These knobs are not calibrated in Hz, and
electrical effect is entirely different from mechanical their readings don’t even correlate linearly with fre-
friction, the result is the same. Creating damping in quency, so to measure the frequency of the motor
this manner has the advantage that it can be made you need to use the stopwatch. However, it can be
stronger or weaker simply by increasing or decreas- useful to write down the knob settings that produced
ing the strength of the magnetic field. a particular frequency, so that you can reproduce it
later. The older motors don’t control their frequency
Turn off all the electrical equipment and leave it un- as accurately as the newer ones, so if you have one
plugged. Connect the circuit shown in the top left of these you should do the low-Q setup in part F.
of the electrical diagram, consisting of a power sup-
ply to run the electromagnet plus a meter . You do Set the damping current to the higher of the two
not yet need the power supply for driving the motor. values. Turn on the motor and drive the system at a
The meter will tell you how much electrical current frequency very different from its natural frequency.
is flowing through the electromagnet, which will give You will notice that it takes a certain amount of
you a numerical measure of how strong your damp- time, perhaps a minute or two, for the system to
ing is. It reads out in units of amperes (A), the settle into a steady pattern of vibration. This is
metric unit of electrical current. Although this does called the steady-state response to the driving force
not directly tell you the amount of damping force in of the motor.
units of newtons (the force depends on velocity), the Does the system respond by vibrating at its natural
force is proportional to the current. frequency, at the same frequency as the motor, or at
Once you have everything hooked up, check with some frequency in between?
your instructor before plugging things in and turn-
D Resonance
ing them on. If you do the setup wrong, you could
blow a fuse, which is no big deal, but a more seri- With your damping current still set to the higher
ous goof would be to put too much current through value, try different motor frequencies, and observe
the electromagnet, which could burn it up, perma- how strong the steady-state response is. At what
nently ruining it. Once your instructor has checked motor frequency do you obtain the strongest response?
this part of the electrical setup she/he will show you When changing from one frequency to another, you
how to monitor the current on the meter to make have to allow time for the vibrator to reach its steady
sure that you never have too much. state. To make it easier to tell when the steady state
The Q of an oscillator is defined as the number of is happening, it helps if you stop the vibration by
oscillations required for damping to reduce the en- hand after changing the frequency; otherwise you
ergy of the vibrations by a factor of 535 (a defini- can get complicated patterns of motion in which the
tion originating from the quantity e2π ). As planned exponentially decaying motion left over from the old
in your prelab, measure the Q of the system with frequency happens on top of the new driven motion.
the electromagnet turned off, then with a low cur-
rent through the electromagnet, and then a higher 2 We will probably get the 24 V AC power supplies some-
current. There are differences among the oscillators, time in 2009. If we don’t have those yet, use one of the power
possibly because they were dropped on the floor dur- supplies in the lab benches in 416T, setting it on 12 V and
connecting to the +12 and −12 V plugs.
31
You can save yourself some time if you think of this tude.]
part and part F as one unit, and plan ahead so that
the data you take now are also the data you need for
part F. Self-Check
E Resonance Strength Make your graphs for part F (see below), and see if
they make sense. Make sure to make the frequency
Set the motor to the resonant frequency, i.e., the
axis expanded enough to get an accurate FWHM
frequency at which you have found you obtain the
from the graph,
strongest response. Now measure the amplitude of
the vibrations you obtain with each of the two damp-
ing currents. How does the strength of the resonance Analysis
depend on damping?
Compare your observations in parts C, D, and E
With low amounts of damping, I have sometimes en-
with theory.
countered a problem where the system, when driven
near resonance, never really settles down into a steady For part F, construct graphs with the square of the
state. The amplitude varies dramatically from one amplitude on the y axis and the frequency on the
minute to the next, perhaps because the power sup- x axis. The reason for using the square of the am-
ply is not stable enough to control the driving fre- plitude is that the standard way of specifying the
quency consistently enough. If this happens to you, width of a resonance peak is to give its full width at
check with your instructor. half resonance (FWHM), which is measured between
the two points where the energy of the steady-state
F Width of the Resonance vibration equals half its maximum value. Energy is
Now measure the response of the system for a large proportional to the square of the amplitude. Deter-
number of driving frequencies, so that you can graph mine the FWHM of the resonance for each value of
the resonance curve and determine the width of the the damping current, and find whether the expected
resonance. Concentrate on the area near the top relationship exists between Q and FWHM; make a
and sides of the peak, which is what’s important for numerical test, not just a qualitative one. Obviously
finding the full width at half maximum (FWHM), there is no way you can get an accurate FWHM if
∆f . the peak is only as wide as a pencil on the graph —
make an appropriate choice of the range of frequen-
To make this part less time-consuming, your instruc-
cies on the x axis.
tor will assign your group to do only one of the two
graphs, low-Q or high-Q. Each group will have their
own data for one Q and another group’s data for
another Q.
G Phase
Observe the phase response, δ, by comparing the
motion of the disk with the motion of the pointer
attached to the driving arm. Does δ have the ex-
pected behavior at ω ωo and for ω ωo ?
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
P1 Plan how you will determine the Q of your os-
cillator in part B. [Hint: Note that the energy of a
vibration is proportional to the square of the ampli-
32 Lab 9 Resonance
33
10 The Force Vector
Apparatus
force table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
spirit level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
weights
string
Goal
Observations
Test whether the vector sum of the forces acting on
an object at rest is equal to zero. The apparatus consists of a small circular table, with
a small metal ring held in the middle by the tension
in four strings. Each string goes over a pulley at the
Introduction edge of the table, so that a weight can be hung on it
to control the tension. The angles can be recorded
Modern physics claims that when a bridge, an earth-
either graphically, by sliding a piece of paper un-
quake fault, or an oak tree doesn’t move, it is be-
derneath, or by reading angles numerically off of an
cause the forces acting on it, which combine accord-
angular scale around the circumference of the table.
ing to vector addition, add up to zero. Although
this may seem like a reasonable statement, it was Use the spirit level to level the table completely us-
far from obvious to premodern scientists. Aristotle, ing the screws on the feet. Set up four strings with
for instance, said that it was the nature of each of weights, using the small pin to hold the ring in place.
the four elements, earth, fire, water and air, to re- Adjust the angles or the amounts of weight or both,
turn to its natural location. Rain would fall from until the ring is in equilibrium without the pin, and
the sky because it was trying to return to its natu- is positioned right over the center of the table. Avoid
ral location in the lakes and oceans, and once it got a symmetric arrangement of the strings (e.g., don’t
to its natural location it would stop moving because space them all 90 degrees apart), and don’t make any
that was its nature. forces collinear with each other. The ring is an ex-
tended object, so in order to treat it mathematically
When a modern scientist considers a book resting on
as a pointlike object you should make sure that all
a table, she says that it holds still because the force
the strings are lined up with the center of the ring,
of gravity pulling the book down is exactly canceled
as shown in the figure.
by the normal force of the table pushing up on the
book. Aristotle would have denied that this was pos-
sible, because he believed that at any one moment an
object could have only one of two mutually exclusive
types of motion: natural motion (the tendency of the
book to fall to the ground, and resume its natural
place), and forced motion (the ability of another ob-
ject, such as the table, to move the book). According
to his theory, there could be nothing like the addi-
tion of forces, because the object being acted on was
only capable of “following orders” from one source at
a time. The incorrect Aristotelian point of view has Because of friction, it is possible to change any one
great intuitive appeal, and beginning physics stu- of the weights slightly without causing the ring to
dents tend to make Aristotelian statements such as, move. This is a potential source of systematic er-
“The table’s force overcomes the force of gravity,” rors, but you can eliminate the error completely by
as if the forces were having a contest, in which the the following method. Find out how much you can
victor annihilated the loser. increase or decrease each weight without causing the
ring to move. Within the range of values that don’t
Self-Check
Do both a graphical calculation and an analytic cal-
culation in lab, without error analysis. Make sure
they give the same result. Do a rough check that
35
11 The Momentum Vector
Apparatus
photogate (PASCO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
small steel and plastic balls of various masses 2/group
plastic rulers
protractor
scotch tape
small stands
extra rods
clamps
Goal
Test whether momentum is conserved in a collision
of two balls.
Introduction
Pool players have an intuitive feeling for conserva- The idea is to set up an off-center collision, as shown
tion of momentum: they can visualize the results of below, and measure the initial and final speeds of the
a collision of two pool balls in advance. They also balls using the photogate and the computer. The
know that certain shots are impossible. For instance, use of the photogate and the computer software that
there is no way to make the cue ball bounce back di- works with it is explained in Appendix 6. Since on
rectly from a collision with another ball (except by any given trial you can only use the photogate to
putting spin on it, which creates an external friction measure the speed of a single ball, you will have to
force with the felt). They understand that the angles reproduce the collision at least three times to mea-
are important, so without knowing it, they are doing sure the three speeds involved. Actually, you will
mental estimates involving momentum as a vector: want to measure each of the three speeds several
a quantity that has both magnitude and direction. times in order to get a good estimate of your ran-
dom errors.
In this lab, you will be studying collisions similar to
the collision of the cue ball with an initially station-
ary ball. One of the basic principles involved is the
conservation of momentum:
The Principle of Conservation of Momentum
No matter how a set of objects interact with each
other, as long as no external force is present, the
vector sum of their momenta is conserved. That is,
p1i + p2i + . . . = p1f + p2f + . . ., where the “. . . ”
means that if there are more than two objects in-
volved, all their momenta should be added like vec-
tors.
To reproduce the same initial speed for the projectile
The technique (ball 1), you can build a little ramp out of two plastic
37
12 Torque
Apparatus Construct a setup like the one shown above. Avoid
any symmetry in your arrangement. There are four
meter stick with holes drilled in it . . . . . . . . 1/group forces acting on the meter stick:
spring scales, calibrated in newtons
FH = the weight hanging underneath
weights
string FM = Earth’s gravity on the meter stick itself
protractors FL = tension in the string on the left
hooks FR = tension in the string on the right
Prelab
The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
Observations P1 You have complete freedom in defining what
point is to be considered the axis of rotation — if
Weigh your meter stick before you do anything else;
one choice of axis causes the total torque to be zero,
they don’t all weigh the same amount.
then any other choice of axis will also cause the to-
For each spring scale, hang a known weight from it, tal torque to be zero. It is possible to simplify the
and adjust the calibration tab so that the scale gives analysis by choosing the axis so that one of the four
the correct result. torques is zero. Plan how you will do this.
38 Lab 12 Torque
P2 All the torques will be tending to cause rota-
tion in the same plane. You can therefore use plus
and minus signs to represent clockwise and counter-
clockwise torques. Choose which one you’ll call pos-
itive. Using your choice of axis, which of the four
torques, τH , τM , τL , and τR , will be negative, which
will be positive, and which will be zero?
P3 Suppose that in the figure above, the angle be-
tween the meter stick and the hanging weight is 80 ◦ ,
the mass of the hanging weight is 1 kg, and the mass
of the meter stick is 0.1 kg. If a student is then try-
ing to calculate the x components of the forces FM
and FH , why is it incorrect to say
and
Analysis
Determine the total force and total torque on the
meter stick. For the forces, I think a graphical cal-
culation will be easier than a numerical one.
Finally, repeat your calculation of the total torque
using a different point as your axis. Although you’re
normally expected to do your analysis completely in-
dependently, for this lab it’s okay if you find the total
torque for one choice of axis, and your lab partners
do the calculation their own choices.
Error analysis is not required. For extra credit, you
can do error analysis for one of your total torques.
39
13 The Moment of Inertia
Apparatus on the simple rather than the complex. His law of
inertia was completely linear. In his view, all the
meter stick with hole in center . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group common examples of circular motion really involved
nail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/group a force, which kept things from going straight. In
fulcrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/group the case of a spinning top, for instance, Newton (a
100 g and 200 g slotted masses . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group confirmed atomist) would have visualized an atoms
duct tape in the top as being acted on by some kind of sticky
sliding bracket to go on force from the other atoms, which would keep it from
meter stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group flying off straight. Linear motion was the simplest
U-shaped hook for hanging type, needing no forces to keep it going. Circular
weights from bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group motion was more complex, requiring a force to bend
computer with Vernier software the atoms’ trajectories into circles.
1/group photogate and adapter box . . . . . . .1/group
triple-beam balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/group Even though circular motion is inherently more com-
Vernier calipers plicated than linear motion, some very close analo-
gies can be made between the two in the case where
an object is spinning rigidly. (An examples of non-
rigid rotation would be a hurricane, in which the
Goal inner parts complete a rotation more rapidly than
the outer parts.) In analogy to Newton’s first law,
Test the equation τtotal = Iα, which relates an ob- Ftotal = ma, we have
ject’s angular acceleration to its own moment of in-
ertia and to the total torque applied to it. τtotal = Iα ,
where the angular acceleration α replaces the linear
acceleration a, the total torque plays the role given
Introduction to the total force, and the moment of inertia I is
Newton’s first law, which states that motion in a used instead of the mass. In this lab, you are going
straight line goes on forever in the absence of a force, to release an unbalanced rotating system — a meter
was especially difficult for scientists to work out be- stick on an axle with weights attached to it — and
cause long-lasting circular motion seemed much more measure its angular acceleration in response to the
prevalent in the universe than long-lasting linear mo- nonzero gravitational torque on it.
tion. The sun, moon and stars appeared to move Every equation you learned for constant acceleration
in never-ending circular paths around the sky. A can also be adapted to the case of rotation with con-
spinning top could continue its motion for a much stant angular acceleration, simply by translating all
longer time than a book sliding across a table. René the variables. For instance, the equation vf2 = 2ax
Descartes (b. 1596) came close to stating a law of in- for an object accelerating from rest can be translated
ertia like Newton’s, but he thought that matter was into the valid rotational formula ωf2 = 2aθ.
made out of tiny spinning vortices, like whirlwinds
mr2 ,
P
of dust. Galileo, who among Newton’s predecessors The moment of inertia is defined as I =
came closest to stating a law of inertia, was also con- where m can be thought of as the mass of an indi-
fused by the issue of circular versus linear inertia. An vidual atom comprising the rotating body, and r is
advocate of the Copernican system, in which the ap- the distance of that atom from the axis of rotation.
parent rotation of the sun, stars and moon was due The word “moment” in “moment of inertia” does
to the Earth’s rotation, he knew that the apparently not refer to a moment in time, but is used instead
motionless ground, trees, and mountains around him in a more old-fashioned sense of “importance” or
must be moving in circles as the Earth turned. Was “weight,” as in “matters of great moment.” The
this because inertia naturally caused things to move idea is that the factor of r2 gives more importance
in circles? to the an atom that is far from the axis of rotation.
Newton, like other giants of science, saw how to focus Because the symbol I is used, there is a tendency
for students to refer to it as “inertia,” but inertia
41
Observations ∆θ. Measuring this angle accurately is there-
fore vital in order to get a good result. A
Now add the extra weight so that the meter stick protractor cannot measure an angle this small
is slightly unbalanced. The idea of this lab is to with sufficient accuracy. Use trigonometry to
release the meter stick and use the photogate to find determine this angle.
how quickly it is moving once it has rotated through
some angle, using the photogate to find the amount It’s easiest if you use radian measure through-
of time required for the tip of the meter stick to pass out. The equation τtotal = Iα is only true if α
through the photogate. From your measurement of is measured in radians/s2 .
∆t using the photogate, you can find ω = ∆θ/∆t,
which is an approximation to the meter stick’s final The sliding bracket and hook contribute both
angular velocity. Instructions for using the computer to the total torque and the moment of inertia,
software are given in appendix 6; you want the mode so you’ll have to weigh them.
for measuring how long the photogate was blocked.
Once you know the meter stick’s final value of ω, Prelab
you can extract the angular acceleration. This can
then be compared with the theoretical value of the The point of the prelab questions is to make sure
angular acceleration from τtotal = Iα. you understand what you’re doing, why you’re do-
ing it, and how to avoid some common mistakes. If
Tips: you don’t know the answers, make sure to come to
my office hours before lab and get help! Otherwise
You may want to put something under the ful- you’re just setting yourself up for failure in lab.
crum base to raise everything up higher. P1 Derive an equation for the experimental value
of the angular acceleration, expressed in terms of
Although the balanced configuration, with τtotal = quantities you will actually measure directly, includ-
0, still has τtotal = 0 no matter what angle it ing the quantities θ and ∆θ defined in the figure
is at, the torque exerted by the extra weight below. Note that this lab is exactly analogous to lab
does depend a little on what angle the meter 2, and many of the same techniques apply.
stick is at. This is because of the factor of
sin θ in the definition τ = rF sin θ. Since the
torque is not constant, the angular accelera-
tion is not constant, leading to complications.
You can avoid this problem by confining all
your measurements to a fairly small range of
positions near horizontal. As long as θ is fairly
close to 90 ◦ , sin θ is extremely close to 1, and
it is a good enough approximation to assume a
constant torque rF producing a constant an-
gular acceleration. For instance, as long as θ
is within 20 ◦ above or below horizontal, sin θ
changes by no more than 0.06.
P2 Why would it not be meaningful to try to deal
Although you want to work only with nearly with the meter stick’s velocity, rather than its angu-
horizontal positions of the meter stick so that lar velocity?
the torque is approximately constant, you also
need to make sure that the total angle tra-
versed by the meter stick is still reasonably Self-Check
large compared to the angle traversed while the Do all your analysis in lab.
meter stick is blocking the photogate. Other-
wise your measurement of ω = ∆θ/∆t will not
be a good approximation to the final instanta- Analysis
neous angular velocity.
Extract theoretical and experimental values of the
As you will find in your prelab, the angular ac- angular acceleration from your data, and compare
celeration depends on the square of the angle them.
43
14 Torque in Three Dimensions
Apparatus
metal hoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
posts with clamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/group
spring scales
vertical stand with leveling feet and clamps for me-
ter stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
vertical stand for use with plumb bob . . . . . 1/group
meter stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/group
string
spirit level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
plumb bob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
butcher paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/group
protractors
Goal
Test the hypothesis that the total torque and total
force on an object are zero, for a system that cannot
be analyzed within a plane.
Observations
The basic idea here is to reenact lab 12 in three
dimensions, so that the r and F vectors are not con-
fined to a plane. To make things simple, you’ll use
a circular hoop as your object. By taking its center
as the axis, and suspending it from three strings at- sure each string is a single strand (not an oval loop),
tached at its circumference, you can make the mag- and that it’s long enough so that its projection down
nitudes of the r vectors all the same. Also, by lev- onto the horizontal plane is fairly long, and can have
eling the hoop with a spirit level you can make all its direction measured accurately. By locating two
the r vectors lie in the horizontal plane. The three points on the string accurately in three dimensions,
strings, however, should not be vertical; they should you can accurately determine the direction of the
point up and out at random angles. The whole ar- force. Note that the strings’ horizontal projections
rangement should not have any symmetry. There will not necessarily pass through the center of the
will be three force vectors for the three strings, plus hoop; that’s okay, and in fact there’s no easy way to
a downward force vector due to gravity. avoid it. To get the meter stick accurately vertical,
use the spirit level and the tripod of screws on the
You can use whatever measuring techniques you need
base of the stand. To locate the projection of the
in order to completely determine all the r and F vec-
ring, you can mark points on its circumference, then
tors in three dimensions, but the general approach
when you’re done lay it on the paper and trace its
that seemed to work well for me was to lay a large
outline.
sheet of butcher paper on the tabletop underneath
the apparatus, and project points on the apparatus I found it convenient to work in spherical coordi-
down onto the paper using the plumb bob. You can nates (r, θ, φ), where θ is an angle measured coun-
also measure the heights of points using the vertical terclockwise in the horizontal plane, and φ is an an-
meter stick. For convenience of measurement, make gle measured down from the vertical. For example,
all the r vectors of the points at which the strings
Analysis
Convert all four force vectors and all four r vectors
in Cartesian coordinates. Find the total force by
vector addition. Compute the four torque vectors
using the vector cross product, and find the total
torque by vector addition.
45
Appendix 1: Format of Lab Writeups
Lab reports must be three pages or less, not counting If this is a lab that has just one important numerical
your raw data. The format should be as follows: result (or maybe two or three of them), put them
in your abstract, with error bars where appropriate.
Title
There should normally be no more than two to four
Raw data — Keep actual observations separate from numbers here. Do not recapitulate your raw data
what you later did with them. here — this is for your final results.
These are the results of the measurements you take
If you’re presenting a final result with error bars,
down during the lab, hence they come first. You
make sure that the number of significant figures is
should clearly mark the beginning and end of your
consistent with your error bars. For example, if you
raw data, so I don’t have to sort through many pages
write a result as 323.54 ± 6 m/s, that’s wrong. Your
to find your actual presentation of your work, below.
error bars say that you could be off by 6 in the ones’
Write your raw data directly in your lab book; don’t
place, so the 5 in the tenths’ place and the four in
write them on scratch paper and recopy them later.
the hundredths’ place are completely meaningless.
Don’t use pencil. The point is to separate facts from
opinions, observations from inferences. If you’re presenting a number in scientific notation,
with error bars, don’t do it like this
Procedure — Did you have to create your own
methods for getting some of the raw data?
Do not copy down the procedure from the manual. 1.234 × 10−89 m/s ± 3 × 10−92 m/s ,
In this section, you only need to explain any meth-
ods you had to come up with on your own, or cases
where the methods suggested in the handout didn’t do it like this
work and you had to do something different. Do not
discuss how you did your calculations here, just how (1.234 ± 0.003) × 10−89 m/s ,
you got your raw data.
Abstract — What did you find out? Why is it im- so that we can see easily which digit of the result the
portant? error bars apply to.
The “abstract” of a scientific paper is a short para-
graph at the top that summarizes the experiment’s Justification and Reasoning — Convince me of
results in a few sentences. If your results deviated what you claimed in your abstract.
from the ideal equations, don’t be afraid to say so. Cconvince me that the statements you made about
After all, this is real life, and many of the equa- your results in the abstract follow logically from your
tions we learn are only approximations, or are only data. This will typically involve both calculations
valid in certain circumstances. However, (1) if you and logical arguments. Continuing the debate meta-
simply mess up, it is your responsibility to realize phor, if your abstract said the U.S. should have free
it in lab and do it again, right; (2) you will never trade with China, this is the rest of the debate, where
get exact agreement with theory, because measure- you convince me, based on data and logic, that we
ments are not perfectly exact — the important issue should have free trade.
is whether your results agree with theory to roughly In your calculations, the more clearly you show what
within the error bars. you did, the easier it is for me to give you partial
The abstract comes first in your writeup, but you’ll credit if there is something wrong with your final re-
write it last, so leave a little space for it. sult. If you have a long series of similar calculations,
you may just show one as a sample. If your prelab
The abstract is not a statement of what you hoped involved deriving equations that you will need, re-
to find out. It’s a statement of what you did find peat them here without the derivation. Try to lay
out. It’s like the brief statement at the beginning out complicated calculations in a logical way, go-
of a debate: “The U.S. should have free trade with ing straight down the page and using indentation to
China.” It’s not this: “In this debate, we will discuss make it easy to understand. When doing algebra,
whether the U.S. should have free trade with China.” try to keep everything in symbolic form until the
very end, when you will plug in numbers.
Procedure
We followed the procedure in the lab manual with
the following additions: (1) To make sure both ob-
jects fell at the same time, we put them side by side
on a board and then tipped the board. (2) We waited
until there was no wind.
Abstract
We dropped a cannon ball weighing two hundred
pounds and a musket ball weighing half a pound si-
multaneously from the same height. Both hit the
ground at nearly the same time. This contradicts
Aristotle’s theory that heavy objects always fall faster
than light ones.
47
Appendix 2: Basic Error Analysis
No measurement is perfectly ex- itations of the measuring devices.
49
are to use the techniques explained below to deter- Method #2: Repeated Measurements and the Two-
mine the error bars on your final result. There are Thirds Rule
two sets of techniques you’ll need to learn: If you take repeated measurements of the same thing,
then the amount of variation among the numbers can
techniques for finding the accuracy of your raw tell you how big the random errors were. This ap-
data proach has an advantage over guessing your random
techniques for using the error bars on your raw errors, since it automatically takes into account all
data to infer error bars on your final result the sources of random error, even ones you didn’t
know were present.
Roughly speaking, the measurements of the length
Estimating random errors in raw of the sofa were mostly within a few mm of the av-
data erage, so that’s about how big the random errors
were. But let’s make sure we are stating our error
We now examine three possible techniques for es- bars according to the convention that the true result
timating random errors in your original measure- will fall within our range of errors about two times
ments, illustrating them with the measurement of out of three. Of course we don’t know the “true”
the length of the sofa. result, but if we sort out our list of measurements
in order, we can get a pretty reasonable estimate of
Method #1: Guess
our error bars by taking half the range covered by
If you’re measuring the length of the sofa with a the middle two thirds of the list. Sorting out our list
metric tape measure, then you can probably make a of ten measurements of the sofa, we have
reasonable guess as to the precision of your measure-
202.8 cm 202.9 202.9 203.1 203.1
ments. Since the smallest division on the tape mea-
203.1 203.2 203.3 203.4 203.4
sure is one millimeter, and one millimeter is also near
the limit of your ability to see, you know you won’t Two thirds of ten is about 6, and the range covered
be doing better than ± 1 mm, or 0.1 cm. Making al- by the middle six measurements is 203.3 cm - 202.9
lowances for errors in getting tape measure straight cm, or 0.4 cm. Half that is 0.2 cm, so we’d esti-
and so on, we might estimate our random errors to mate our error bars as ±0.2 cm. The average of the
be a couple of millimeters. measurements is 203.1 cm, so your result would be
stated as 203.1 ± 0.2 cm.
Guessing is fine sometimes, but there are at least two
ways that it can get you in trouble. One is that stu- One common mistake when estimating random er-
dents sometimes have too much faith in a measuring rors by repeated measurements is to round off all
device just because it looks fancy. They think that your measurements so that they all come out the
a digital balance must be perfectly accurate, since same, and then conclude that the error bars were
unlike a low-tech balance with sliding weights on it, zero. For instance, if we’d done some overenthu-
it comes up with its result without any involvement siastic rounding of our measurements on the sofa,
by the user. That is incorrect. No measurement is rounding them all off to the nearest cm, every single
perfectly accurate, and if the digital balance only number on the list would have been 203 cm. That
displays an answer that goes down to tenths of a wouldn’t mean that our random errors were zero!
gram, then there is no way the random errors are The same can happen with digital instruments that
any smaller than about a tenth of a gram. automatically round off for you. A digital balance
might give results rounded off to the nearest tenth of
Another way to mess up is to try to guess the error
a gram, and you may find that by putting the same
bars on a piece of raw data when you really don’t
object on the balance again and again, you always
have enough information to make an intelligent esti-
get the same answer. That doesn’t mean it’s per-
mate. For instance, if you are measuring the range
fectly precise. Its precision is no better than about
of a rifle, you might shoot it and measure how far
±0.1 g.
the bullet went to the nearest centimeter, conclud-
ing that your random errors were only ±1 cm. In Method #3: Repeated Measurements and the Stan-
reality, however, its range might vary randomly by dard Deviation
fifty meters, depending on all kinds of random fac-
The most widely accepted method for measuring er-
tors you don’t know about. In this type of situation,
ror bars is called the standard deviation. Here’s how
you’re better off using some other method of esti-
the method works, using the sofa example again.
mating your random errors.
51
In 2004, Chand et al. redid the measurement by a
more precise technique, and found that the change was
0.6 ± 0.6 parts per million. This is only one standard
deviation away from the expected value of 0, which
should be interpreted as being statistically consistent
with zero. If you measure something, and you think
you know what the result is supposed to be theoret-
ically, then one standard deviation is the amount you
typically expect to be off by — that’s why it’s called
the “standard” deviation. Moreover, the Chand result
is wildly statistically inconsistent with the Webb result
(see the example on page 55), which means that one
experiment or the other is a mistake. Most likely Webb
at al. underestimated their random errors, or perhaps
there were systematic errors in their experiment that
they didn’t realize were there.
Precision of an average
We decided that the standard deviation of our mea-
surements of the length of the couch was 0.2 cm,
i.e., the precision of each individual measurement
was about 0.2 cm. But I told you that the average,
203.1 cm, was more precise than any individual mea-
surement. How precise is the average? The answer
is that the standard deviation of the average equals
standard deviation of one measurement
√ .
number of measurements
(An example on page 54 gives the reasoning that
leads to the square root.) That means that you can
theoretically measure anything to any desired preci-
sion, simply by averaging together enough measure-
ments. In reality, no matter how small you make
your random error, you can’t get rid of systematic er-
rors by averaging, so after a while it becomes point-
less to take any more measurements.
will give you the density if you measure the cube’s Qb = change in ρ = 0.009 g/cm3
mass and the length of its sides. Suppose you mea- (3) The error bars on ρ are given by the formula
sure the mass very accurately as m = 1.658±0.003 g,
q
but you know b = 0.85±0.06 cm with only two digits
σ ρ = Q2m + Q2b ,
of precision. Your best value for ρ is 1.658 g/(0.85 cm)3 =
2.7 g/cm3 .
yielding σρ = 0.01 g/cm3 . Intuitively, the idea here
How can you figure out how precise this value for ρ is that if our result could be off by an amount Qm
is? We’ve already made sure not to keep more than because of an error in m, and by Qb because of b,
twosignificant figures for ρ, since the less accurate then if the two errors were in the same direction, we
piece of raw data had only two significant figures. might by off by roughly |Qm | + |Qb |. However, it’s
We expect the last significant figure to be somewhat equally likely that the two errors would be in oppo-
uncertain, but we don’t yet know how uncertain. A site directions,
p and at least partially cancel. The ex-
simple method for this type of situation is simply to pression Q2m + Q2b gives an answer that’s smaller
change the raw data by one sigma, recalculate the than Qm + Qb , representing the fact that the cancel-
result, and see how much of a change occurred. In lation might happen.
this example, we add 0.06 cm to b for comparison.
The final result is ρ = 2.69 ± 0.01 g/cm3 .
b = 0.85 cm gave ρ = 2.7 g/cm3
Example: An average
b = 0.91 cm gives ρ = 2.0 g/cm3 On page 52 I claimed that averaging a bunch of mea-
The resulting change in the density was 0.7 g/cm3 , surements reduces the error bars by the square root of
so that is our estimate for how much it could have the number of measurements. We can now see that
this is a special case of propagation of errors.
been off by:
For example, suppose Alice measures the circumfer-
ρ = 2.7 ± 0.7 g/cm3 . ence c of a guinea pig’s waist to be 10 cm, Using the
guess method, she estimates that her error bars are
about ±1 cm (worse than the normal normal ∼ 1 mm
Propagation of the error from sev- error bars for a tape measure, because the guinea pig
was squirming). Bob then measures the same thing,
eral variables and gets 12 cm. The average is computed as
What about the more general case in which no one
A+B
piece of raw data is clearly the main source of error? c = ,
2
For instance, suppose we get a more accurate mea-
surement of the edge of the cube, b = 0.851 ± 0.001 where A is Alice’s measurement, and B is Bob’s, giving
cm. In percentage terms, the accuracies of m and 11 cm. If Alice had been off by one standard devia-
b are roughly comparable, so both can cause sig- tion (1 cm), it would have changed the average by 0.5
d =W −C ,
55
Appendix 4: Graphing
Review of Graphing Type in your x values in the first column, and
your y values in the second column. For sci-
Many of your analyses will involve making graphs. entific notation, do, e.g., 5.2e-7 to represent
A graph can be an efficient way of presenting data 5.2 × 10−7 .
visually, assuming you include all the information
needed by the reader to interpret it. That means
labeling the axes and indicating the units in paren- Select those two columns using the mouse.
theses, as in the example. A title is also helpful.
Make sure that distances along the axes correctly
represent the differences in the quantity being plot- From the Insert menu, do Chart.
ted. In the example, it would not have been correct
to space the points evenly in the horizontal direction,
because they were not actually measured at equally When it offers you various styles of graphs to
spaced points in time. choose from, choose the icon that shows a scat-
ter plot, with dots on it (XY Chart).
57
Appendix 5: Finding Power Laws from Data
For many people, it is hard to imagine how scientists It’s fairly easy to figure out what’s going on just
originally came up with all the equations that can by staring at the numbers a little. Every time you
now be found in textbooks. This appendix explains increase the height of the animal by a factor of 10, its
one method for finding equations to describe data food consumption goes up by a factor of 100. This
from an experiment. implies that f must be proportional to the square of
h, or, displaying the proportionality constant k = 3
explicitly,
Linear and nonlinear relationships f = 3h2 .
When two variables x and y are related by an equa-
tion of the form
Use of logarithms
y = cx ,
Now we have found c = 3 and p = 2 by inspection,
where c is a constant (does not depend on x or y), but that would be much more difficult to do if these
we say that a linear relationship exists between x weren’t all round numbers. A more generally appli-
and y. As an example, a harp has many strings of cable method to use when you suspect a power-law
different lengths which are all of the same thickness relationship is to take logarithms of both variables.
and made of the same material. If the mass of a It doesn’t matter at all what base you use, as long as
string is m and its length is L, then the equation you use the same base for both variables. Since the
data above were increasing by powers of 10, we’ll use
m = cL logarithms to the base 10, but personally I usually
just use natural logs for this kind of thing.
will hold, where c is the mass per unit length, with log10 h log10 f
units of kg/m. Many quantities in the physical world shrew 0 0.48
are instead related in a nonlinear fashion, i.e., the rat 1 2.48
relationship does not fit the above definition of lin- capybara 2 4.48
earity. For instance, the mass of a steel ball bearing
is related to its diameter by an equation of the form This is a big improvement, because differences are
so much simpler to work mentally with than ratios.
m = cd3 , The difference between each successive value of h
is 1, while f increases by 2 units each time. The
where c is the mass per unit volume, or density, of fact that the logs of the f 0 s increase twice as quickly
steel. Doubling the diameter does not double the is the same as saying that f is proportional to the
mass, it increases it by a factor of eight. square of h.