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TorquesandRotationalEquilibrium
Abstract
Rotationalequilibriumiswhenthenettorqueactingonasystemisequaltozero.Inthis
labrotationalequilibriumwillbeestablishedinmultipleexperimentalscenarios.Thiswasdone
usingameterstickwithmassessuspendedfromitatvariouspositions.Thepositionsofthe
massesandthepivotpointwerealteredinordertomaintainrotationalequilibrium.The
clockwiseandcounterclockwisetorqueswerecalculatedforeachofthesescenarios.By
calculatingthepercentdifferencebetweenthesevaluesitwasdeterminedthatthesystemswere
inrotationalequilibrium.Possiblesourcesoferrorwerenonuniformlydistributedmassinthe
meterstick,anddifferencesfromtheaveragemassinthehangers.Thelabtaughttheconcepts
oftorques,androtationalequilibrium.
Introduction
Equilibriumisagoalofthebuildersofmanydifferentstructures.Inphysicsanobjectis
saidtobeinmechanicalequilibriumifitisinastateoftransitionalandrotationalequilibrium.
Forasystemtobeintransitionalequilibriumthesumoftheforcesactingonthesystem,inall
planes,mustbeequaltozero.Thisisexpressedmathematicallyinthefollowingequations.
F x = 0
F y = 0
F z = 0
Inthislabrotationalequilibriumwillbeexamined.Forrotationalequilibriumthesummationof
allofthetorquesmustequalzero.Thisisexpressedmathematicallyinthefollowingequation.
= 0
Torquesareameasureoftherotationalforcethatanobjecthasaboutapivotpoint.Theyare
calculatedbymultiplyingtheforcebythedistancefromtheforcetothepointofrotation.The
equationforcalculatingtorquesisthefollowingequation.
= F rsin
Thismeansthatalargerforcewillcausegreaterrotationthanasmallerforcethatisappliedtoan
objectthatisfreetopivotaboutapoint.Also,aforceappliedfarfromthepivotpointwillcause
greaterrotationthanaforceappliedclosertothepivotpoint.
Inthislabameterstickwillbebalancedonasupportstand.Weightswillthenbeadded
tothemeterstick.Theseweightswillcreateforcesandtorquesonoppositesidesofthemeter
stick.Also,forceswillbeappliedthatcausethemetersticktobecomeunbalanced.Inthese
situationsthemeterstickwillbemovedsothatthepivotpointchangestokeeptheruler
balanced.Itishypothesizedthatinallofthesituationstestedrotationalequilibriumwillbe
maintained.Thisisbecausethemeterstickwillremainbalancedsothenettorqueswillhaveto
equalzero.
Thislabwillteachtheconceptsofrotationalequilibriumandtorques.Itwillincrease
understandingoftheprincipalsofrotationalequilibriumbecausevariousrotationalequilibrium
scenarioswillbetested.Itwillalsoprovidepracticeforcalculatingthenettorquesactingona
system,andcalculatingandidentifyingclockwiseandcounterclockwisetorques.
Methods
Tobeginthelabthemassofameterstickandaknifeclampwasdetermined.Themeter
stickwasthenbalancedonasupportstand.Themassofthreeknifeclampswithhangerswas
determined,andtheaveragemassofaknifeclampandhangerwasdetermined.A100gmass
wasthenhungonthe15cmmarkofthemeterstickusingahanger.A200gmasswasthen
hungontheotherendatapointwherethemeterstickwasonceagainbalanced.Thevaluesof
thedistancesandtheleverarmslengthsweredeterminedandrecorded.Thesetupresembledthe
followingdiagram,wherethebluemassis100g,andtheredmassis200g.
Inthenextconditiona100gmasswassuspendedatthe30cmpositiononthemeter
stick,a200gmasswassuspendedatthe70cmpositionofthemeterstick,anda50gmasswas
suspendedatapointthatallowedthemetersticktoonceagainbecomebalanced.Theposition
ofthe50gmasswasdetermined,andthelengthsoftheleverarmsforeachmasswere
determined.Thesevalueswererecorded.Thesituationresembledthefollowingdiagramwhere
thebluemassis100g,theredmassis200g,andthegreenmassis50g.
Inthenextconditionanunknownmasswassuspendedatthe10cmpositiononthemeter
stick,anda200gmasswassuspendedatapositionthatallowedthemetersticktobecome
balancedagain.Thepositionofthe200gmasswasdetermined,andthedistanceofthelever
armsweredetermined.Thesevalueswererecorded,andthemassoftheunknownweightwas
determined.Thesituationresembledthefollowingdiagramwheretheredmassis200g,andthe
purplemassistheunknownmass.
Inthenextconditiona100gmasswassupportednearthezeropointonthemeterstick.
Themeterstickwasthenmovedtoapositionwhereitbalanced.Thevalueofthenewcenterof
gravitywasrecorded,andthelengthsoftheleverarmswererecorded.Thetorquewasfirst
calculatedusingthemassoftheentiremeterstickastheforcecausingtheclockwiserotation.
Themasswasthendividedbytheonehundredcentimeterstofindthepercentimetermass.By
multiplyingthedistanceoneachside,twonewforceswerefound.Theclockwisetorquewas
causedbythenewmassofthelargesidewithnosuspendedmass.Thecounterclockwisetorque
wascausedbythemassofthemeterstickonthatsideofthepivotpoint,andthemassofthe100
gweight.Thismethodofdividingthemassofauniformobjectslengthisthesamewaytofind
themassofasmallunitofanyuniformobject,suchasaonemeterlongmetalbar.Thesituation
resembledthefollowingdiagramwheretheblueweightrepresentsthe100gweight.
Inthenextconditiona100gmasswassuspendednearthezeropointofthemeterstick.
Another100gmasswassuspendedatthe60cmpositionofthemeterstick.Themeterstickwas
thenadjusteduntilitbalancedagain.Thenewpivotpointwasnowthecenterofgravity.The
newcenterofgravitywasdetermined,andthelengthsoftheleverarmsweredetermined.These
valueswererecorded.Thisresembledthefollowingdiagramwherethebluemassesrepresent
100gmasses.
Thisprocedurewasrepeatedforamasssuspendedat70cm.Itresembledthefollowingdiagram
wherethebluemassesrepresent100g.
Thisprocedurewasrepeatedforamasssuspendedat90cm.Beforethiswasdonetheposition
ofthepivotpointwasestimated.Afterthepivotpointwasfoundthetorqueswerecalculated.
Thesituationresembledthefollowingdiagramwherethebluemassesrepresent100gmasses.
Results
Itwasfoundthatinmostofthesituationsitwasclearthatthemeterstickwasin
rotationalequilibrium.Thisisbecausethevaluesfortheclockwiseandcounterclockwise
torqueswereverycloseineachallbuttwooftheconditions.Inoneoftheconditionswherethe
valueswerenotveryclosetheywerestillmoderately,close.Intheotherconditiontheyarenot
close.Inalloftheconditionstheclockwisetorque (cw ) wascalculatedbyaddingthetorques
duetoalloftheforcesactingonthelefthandsideofthepivotpoint.Thecounterclockwise
torque (cc ) wascalculatedbyaddingthetorquesduetoalloftheforcesactingontherighthand
sideonthepivotpoint.Thesewerecalculatedusingthetorqueequationgiveninthe
introduction.
Inallofthecasesthemassofthemeterstickanditssupportingknifeclampwasfoundto
be104.67grams.Theoriginalcenterofgravitywasfoundtobe49.76cm.Thetotalmassofthe
otherthreeclampsandhangerswasfoundtobe58.49grams.Thisgaveanaveragemassof
19.50grams.Thismassisaddedintoallofthemassesforthepurposesofcalculation.
Thevaluesfoundinthefirstcaseareshowninthefollowingtable.
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
Torques
=119.5g
1
m
=
219.5g
2
=15cm
1
x
=
69.29cm
2
=34.76cm
1
r
=
19.53cm
2
=.4071N*m
cc
=
.4201N*m
cw
Percent
Difference
3.14%
Thevalueforpercentdifferencewascalculatedusingthefollowingformula.
P ercentDif f erence =
AbsoluteDifference
100%
Average
E 2 E 1
100%
(E 2 +E 1 )/2
Thefactthatthepercentdifferencewaslowindicatesthatthetorquesarerelativelyequal.
Becausethetorqueswereinoppositedirections,andequal,thesystemwasinrotational
equilibrium.
Thevaluesfoundinthesecondcaseareshowninthefollowingtable.
Percent
Difference
m
=119.5g
x
=30cm
r
=.1976cm
=.4216N*m
3.22%
1
1
1
cc
m
=219.5g
x
=70cm
r
=.2024cm
=.4354N*m
2
2
2
cw
m
6
9.5g
x
2
1.83cm
r
.
2793cm
3
3
3
Thefactthatthepercentdifferencewaslowindicatesthatthetorquesarerelativelyequal.
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
Torques
Becausethetorqueswereinoppositedirections,andequal,thesystemwasinrotational
equilibrium.
Thevaluesfoundinthethirdcaseareshowninthefollowingtable.
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
=Unknown
1
=10cm
1
=39.76cm
1
=
219.5g
2
=
59.07cm
2
=
9.31cm
2
Mass1
Measured
=29.78g
Calculated
=
31.91g
PercentError
6.91%
Inthiscasethevalueofanunknownmasswascalculatedusingthesystemcreated.Todothisit
wasassumedthatthesystemwasinrotationalequilibrium.Thenthefollowingderivationofthe
formulaforrotationalequilibriumwasusedtofindingthemassoftheunknownobject.
m1 gr1 = m2 gr2
Afterthevalueof m1 wasfound19.50gramswassubtractedfromthevaluetoreflectthe
averagemassofthehangerthatwassupportingtheunknownmass.Thepercentdifference
betweenthemasscalculatedandmassmeasuredwassmall.Thisshowedthatthesystemwasa
fairlyaccuratemeansofmeasuringthemass,andthatthesystemwaslikelyinrotational
equilibrium.
Thevaluesforthefourthcaseareshowninthefollowingtable.
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
Torques
=119.5g
1
m
=104.67g
2
=.16cm
1
x
=79.32cm
2
=
20.68cm
0
=20.52cm
1
r
=39.66cm
2
=.2403N*m
cc
=.4068N*m
cw
Percent
Difference
51.46%
Inthiscasethesecondmasswasthetotalmassofthemeterstick.Thisgavevaluesthatwerenot
trueforthemassesofthesides,whichisshownbythelargepercentdifferences.Toreconcile
thisdifferencethemassofthemeterstickwasdividedby100cmtogiveapercentimeter
readingofmass.Usingthisdatathefollowingtableandtorqueswerecalculated.
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
Torques
=119.5g
1
m
=83.02g
2
m
=21..65g
3
=.16cm
1
x
=79.32cm
2
x
=20.68cm
3
=
20.68cm
0
=20.52cm
1
r
=39.66cm
2
r
=10.34cm
3
=.2622N*m
cc
=.3227N*m
cw
Percent
Difference
20.69%
Oncethemassofthemeterstickisconsideredthevalueofthepercentdifferenceisgreatly
reduced.Thisshowsthatthemassofthemeterstickoneachsideisimportantinrotational
equilibrium.
Thevaluesforthefinalcaseareshowninthefollowingtable.
Case6
Diagram
InMethods
Diagram
InMethods
Diagram
InMethods
Percent
Difference
Masses
Positions
Leverarms
=119.5g
1
=.16cm
1
34.75cm
=
34.59cm
1
=119.5g
2
Masses
=60cm
2
Positions
x
0
=
25.25cm
2
Leverarms
=119.5g
1
=.16cm
1
38.32cm
=
38.16cm
1
=119.5g
2
Masses
=70cm
2
Positions
x
0
=
31.68cm
2
Torques
=119.5g
1
=.16cm
1
Predicted
=46.14cm
=.5313N*m
cc
=119.5g
2
=90cm
2
Measured
=45.53cm
=.5208N*m
cw
1.33%
2.00%
Inthisconditionthepredictedvaluewasdeterminedusingthedifferenceintheprevioustwo
values.Thedifferencebetweenthetorquesisverysmall,whichshowsthatthesystemisin
rotationalequilibrium.
Discussion
Itwasfoundthatinallscenariostherewasrotationalequilibrium.Thisisbecausethe
valueofthepercentdifferencebetweentheconditionsislow.Thefourthcaseisnotconsidered
inthisstatementbecauseitdoesnotaccountforthedistributionofthemassofthemeterstick.
Afterthedistributionofthemassisconsideredthepercentdifferencebetweenthetorquesis
reduced.Theforcesareconservedinthefirstthreecasesbecausetheforceofthemassesis
actingonthesupportpiece.Thatpieceappliesanormalforcebackonthemeterstick.This
forceisintheoppositedirectionoftheforceofgravitycausedbythemasses.Thereforewhen
theforcesareaddedthenetforceactingonthesystemiszero.
Thedatacollectedfromcasethreeisindicativeofhowatriplebeambalanceworks.A
triplebeambalanceworksbymovingsetmassesalongthebeams,awayfromthepivotpoint.
Ontheothersideofthepivotpointisthesubstancebeingweighed.Bymovingthemassthe
torquesarechangesbecausethelengthoftheleaverarmischanged.Oncethebeamisbalanced
rotationalequilibriumhasbeenreached.Atthispointthetorquesactingoneachsideofthepivot
pointareequal,andthemassofthesubstancecanbedeterminedbyreadingthevaluesfromthe
beams.
Sometimesrotationalequilibriumcannotbereachedforaparticularscenario.Onesuch
scenariowouldbeifa200gmasswassuspendedatthe20cmposition,anda100gmasswas
suspendedatthe65cmposition.Iftheonlywaytopushthesystemtorotationalequilibrium
waswiththeuseofa50gmass,rotationalequilibriumcouldnotbereached.Thisisbecausethe
50gmasswouldhavetobe68cmfromthepivotpoint,whichisanimpossibilityconsidering
thatthedistanceoneachsideofthepivotpointisapproximately50cm.Tofixthisproblemthe
positionofthemasseswouldhavetobeswitchedandthe50gmasswouldhavetobepositioned
3cmfromthepivotpointonthesidewiththe200gmass.
Somepossiblesourcesoferrorinthisexperimentincludeanonuniformlydistributed
massofthemeterstick,andthepossibilityforanomalyinthemassesofthehangers.Oftenthe
pivotpointofameterstickisnotatthe50cmposition.Thisisbecausethemeterstickismade
ofnaturalwood,sothemassisnotevenlydistributedacrossthemeterstick.Apossiblemethod
ofreconcilingthenoncenteredpivotpointistofindthemasspercentimeter,andaddthetorque
duetothemassofthemeterstickoneachsideofthepivotpointtothenettorques.Thisdoes
notfixtheproblemallthewaythough,becauseitstillfailstocompensatefortheareasofhigher
andlowerdensityinthewood.Theotherpossiblesourceoferroristhatthemassofthehangers
usedincalculationswastheaveragemassofthehangers.Thisassumesthatallofthehangers
areofequalmass,whichisunlikely.Ifthemassofeachwasfoundseparately,andused
separatelyinthecalculations,someerrorcouldbereduced.
Conclusion
Thislabtaughttheconceptsofrotationalequilibriumandtorques.Itincreased
understandingoftheprincipalsofrotationalequilibriumthroughthecalculationofrotational
equilibriuminnumerousexperimentalscenarios.Italsoprovidedpracticeforcalculatingthenet
torquesactingonasystem,andcalculatingandidentifyingclockwiseandcounterclockwise
torques.Thiswasaccomplishedthroughcalculatingandidentifyingthesevaluesinmultiple
scenariostestedinthelab.