6/29/2015

Theinertiabalanceor'wigwag'|NuffieldFoundation
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NuffieldFoundationTeachersPracticalPhysics>ForcesandmotionInertiaandNewton'sfirstlawTheinertiabalanceor'wigwag'

PracticalPhysics
Practicalactivitiesdesignedforuseintheclassroomwith11to19yearolds.

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Theinertiabalanceor'wigwag'
Classpractical
Thisactivityshowsthatresistancetomotiondependsonthemassofthebodybeingaccelerated,ratherthan
onitsweight.

>Electromagnetism
>Energy

Apparatusandmaterials

>Forcesandmotion

Foreachstudentgroup

>Moleculesinmotion

Inertiabalance

>Optics

Masses

>Physicalquantities

Gclamps

>Physicistsatplay

Elasticband

>Physicsapplications
>Waves
VideosandotherIOP
activities
Howscienceworks
Apparatus
AboutPracticalPhysics
PracticalWorkforLearning

Health&SafetyandTechnicalnotes
Ifusinghacksawblades,takecaretoavoidcutsorscratches.

Donotoverloadthesystem,orthebladesmightbuckleorsnap.Testthissafelybeforethelesson,andmake
surethatstudentscannotaddanexcessiveload.

Takecarewhenmassesfalltothefloor.Useaboxortraylinedwithbubblewrap(orsimilar)underheavy
objectsbeinglifted.Thiswillpreventtoesorfingersfrombeinginthedangerzone.
Readourstandardhealth&safetyguidance
Youcanpurchasewigwags,butitischeaperandnottoodifficulttomakethem.Usetwohacksawbladesor
equivalentlengthsofmetalstrip,andplaceablockofwoodbetweenthematoneend.Thisservesas
anchoragetobefixedtothetable.Placeanotherblockofwoodbetweenthemattheotherend,toactasthe
platformwhichcarriestheloads.

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Itisessentialtoclampeachbladeveryfirmlyonbothsidesoftheblocksofwood.Placeanothersmallblockof
woodormetaloutsidetheblade,flushwiththemainblock,sothatthebladeemergesasiffromthewell
matchedjawsofavice.Thendrivescrewsthroughthesmallblocks,throughholesinthesawblades,andinto
thebigblock.
Foratemporarybalance,usealargeGclamptoclampsmallblocks,bothblades,andthelargeblocktogether,
inamultiplesandwichwithasimilarclampattheotherend.

Cylindricalmassesheldinholesinthevibratingplatformworkwellwiththisexperiment,butarenotessential
(seeillustrationsbelow).

Procedure
aClamponeendofthewigwagrigidlytoalabbenchwithGclampssothatthebladesstickouthorizontally.
Theotherendactsasaplatformthatcanvibratetoandfro.
bPulltheplatformtooneside,releaseit,andwatchitvibrating.

cIncreasetheloadbyaddingmassestotheplatform.Useanelasticbandtosecuretheloads.Notethe
changeinresistancetomotion(inertia)andinthevibrationtime(periodofthemotion).

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PhotographcourtesyofMikeVetterlein

dSupporttheloadverticallywithathreadholdingmostofitsweight,leavingonlyalittleofitsupportedbythe
movingplatform.Themovingplatformwillstillcarrythefullmassoftheloadinhorizontalmotion.Withabitof
practice,youcandothisbypullingupwardonatautthreadandmovingyourhandtoandfrointimewiththe
motionoftheplatform.Oryoucanfixthethreadtoasupportasfaraspossibleabovetheplatform.Youhave
changedtheverticalforce.

eFindoutwhetherthismakesadifferencetothewigwagmotion.

PhotographcourtesyofMikeVetterlein

Teachingnotes
1TheoscillationofthesystemdoesnotdependonthepulloftheEarth.Theperiodofoscillation,T,depends
onlyonthemass,m,oftheoscillatingbody,notitsweight.Tm.
2Ifthesystemissuitablycalibrated,theperiodofoscillationcanbeusedtodetermineanunknownmass.

ThisistheprincipleemployedinmachineswhichmeasuremassinSpace.
ThisexperimentwassafetycheckedinAugust2007

Relatedguidance
Mass

Relatedexperiments
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Comparisonoftwokilogrammasses

Pagelastupdatedon09November2011

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