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Newton's 2nd Law - Atwood Machine

PHY 100 & 103

Lab PDF

Demonstrates how force is related to the acceleration of the mass to which it is applied. The Atwood Machine allows the net force on a mass to be varied in order to see the effect on velocity and acceleration of that mass. Students will first calculate the theoretical acceleration of a system using merely given weights and Newton's 2nd Law. They then verify that result by setting the masses into motion and measuring distance and time to allow an alternative calculation of acceleration using kinematic formulas.




Equipment

Name Location Quantity
Timer - 389 JE-105A-D62 1 per table
Weight Hangers, 50g JE-105A-D44 2 per table
String, Pulley, Atwood JE-105A-D69 1 per table
Pulleys, Atwood JE-105A-TopofFileCabinet 1 per table
Meter Stick - 1.75m JE-105A-(105 Door-L) 1 per table
mass, 1 kg Giant Pink Foam JE-105A-X shelves top 1 per room
Mass, Hooked - 500g JE-105A-X30 2 per table


Notes

Put two 500g hooked masses on each table. The 500g hooked masses are found on shelves X30-X35. Some instructors (such as Prof. Dolan) prefer a trailing string tied to the bottom of each 500g hooked mass. Find out in advance whether this is required. The trailings strings are in a small plastic bag in D69. Each lab bench should already have a table clamp, rod, and lattice rod clamp attached to the rod.

Make sure that the room has plenty of paper.



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Item modified on 2009-09-02 13:07:45 by camaratam1.