PRACTICAL NO.

VECTOR ADDITION OF FORCES

OBJECTIVE:

To Study static equilibrium under the action of several concurrent forces.

APPARATUS:

Force table, weight hangers, metric weight set, drawing paper.

THEORY:

Many measurable quantities in physics obey the laws of vector algebra, and force is one
example. The vector sum of the forces on a body is important because it determines whether the
body will move, and how it will move.

Static Equilibrium describes the condition in which a body is at rest with respect to a
frame of reference. When a body is in static equilibrium:

(1) The vector polygon of all forces acting on the body in static equilibrium is closed. The sum
of the vectors representing the forces is zero.

(2) The sum of the components of force along any axis is zero.

The force table apparatus demonstrates the addition of forces acting on a body, in two
dimensions. In this experiment the force table is a disk with pulleys attached at its edges. Strings
attach to a ring at the center, pass over the pulleys to weight hangers.

PROCEDURE:

1. FIVE FORCES: Set up an equilibrium situation with five forces acting on the ring.
Transfer the forces to the paper.
2. POLYGON METHOD: When adding vectors by the polygon method you must "move"
the vectors parallel to themselves. This is easily done with roller scale.
3. The vectors are assembled into the polygon in order. In the case of static equilibrium the
vectors added to get value nearly equal to zero.
4. Transfer the forces on a plain sheet to form vector polygon and check whether the
polygon closes.
5. ANALYTIC METHOD: Choose arbitrary X and Y axes, and resolve the vectors into
components along these axes. And find resultant value of summation of X and Y
components. Then check value of resultant comes nearly equal to zero.
 FIGURE:

Force table

Polygon method for adding forces.

OBSERVATION TABLE:

Sr. No. Forces (F) Angle made Resolved Components Resultant

(gms.) with assumed X Component Y Component value
X axis (θ) (Fx = F×cosθ) (Fy = F×sinθ) ƩFx2 +ƩFy2
(Degree)
1
2
3
4
5
Ʃ Fx = Ʃ Fy =
CONCLUSION:

Resultant value is nearly equal to zero. It suggests the force system is in equilibrium. It is
verified by polygon method as well as analytical method.
 PRACTICAL NO.

FRICTION ON INCLINED PLANE

OBJECTIVE :

To measure coefficient of friction at different angle of inclination of plane surface

APPARATUS:

Inclined plane, sliding box with different surfaces, string, pan and weights.

THEORY:

Static & Kinetic Friction;

The above laws of friction may be expressed by the following formula
Fs = μsN
Fk = μKN
Fk ˂ Fs
Fs = Static frictional force
Fk = Kinetic frictional force
μs = Coefficient of static friction
μK = Coefficient of Kinetic friction

W = weight of box including additional weights = m×g

m = mass of box measured in gms.
g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.81m/sec2
Wx = W sin θ -------------------- (component along x direction)
Wy = W cos θ-------------------- (component along x direction)
N = normal reaction, acting on box perpendicular to inclined plane
N = Wy = W cos θ
P = force on string due to addition of weights in pan
Due to geometry at box,
When box is just about to slide the equation is,
P = W sin θ + μ × N
P = W sin θ + μ × W cos θ ------------------------(A)
Find value of coefficient of friction (μ)
 FIGURE:

Forces on the block and the free-body diagram.

Inclined Plane apparatus

PROCEDURE:
1. Take the inclined board with glass surface.
2. Keep it horizontal initially and put the slider box on it. Increase the inclination angle
gradually till the slider box just begins to slide on it.
3. Note the angle at this position. This is angle of friction θ1.
4. Now place some weights on slider box and repeat the procedure. Let the angle of
friction θ2 in this case.
5. Similarly use slider box for different weights and find the angle of friction each time
and take average value of angle of friction θ.
OBSERVATION TABLE:

Sr. Weight Additional Total Weight Angle of Coefficient Average

No. of slider Weight weight in pan inclination of friction value
box (b) W= a + b P =Angle of μ μ
(a) gm gm gm friction = θ
gm degree
1
2
3
4
5

RESULT:

Coefficient of friction of slider box material = μ =

 PRACTICAL No.

PROJECTILE MOTION
Objective:

To Calculate the distance traveled by a projectile

Apparatus:

Ramp, marble, carbon paper, measuring scale, plumb.

Theory:

Consider an object projected horizontally with a velocity Vox, from some initial height H, above
the floor. The object will travel a horizontal distance R, during the time it falls a vertical distance
H. Since the velocity in the horizontal direction is constant.
R = V0X t
Where t, is the time that the object is in flight.
In free fall the vertical distance moved during a time interval t, is given by the equation,
y - yo = Voy t - (1/2)gt2
Where yo is the initial position of the object, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and voy is the
initial velocity of the object in the vertical (y) direction. For the case of an object propelled
horizontally, Voy is zero. If the object is initially propelled from a height H above the floor, (yo =
H) then at a later time it hits the floor, and y = 0.
Thus, from equation 2,
-H = - (1 / 2) gt 2
And the time of flight is
t = 2H / g
The initial velocity of the projectile can then be calculated from equation1.

Similarly by varying vertical distance H, the time of flight is first calculated and then range value
R can be determined by keeping initial velocity V0X, same.

Figure:

Fig. Ramp setup for Experiment

Procedure:
1. Place the ramp on a table. Mark the location of release of the marble. This will ensure the
marble achieves the same velocity with each trial.
2. Using plumb line mark the spot at which the weight touches the ground to measure the
exact distance from the edge of the ramp to the position where the marble lands.
3. Lay down a runway of carbon paper. When the marble hits the carbon paper, the force
will transfer some of the ink to the underlay and allow to point where contact was first
made.
4. Begin the experiment by releasing the marble at the marked point on the ramp.
5. Measure the distance traveled to the first mark made on the carbon paper using the
measuring tape. Record this value in observation table 1.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 two more times and record the values.
7. Calculate the velocity of the marble for each trial.
8. Find a higher table, or stack some books underneath the ramp to increase the height.
Measure the starting height at the end of the ramp as before.
9. Using the average velocity found earlier, predict how far away the marble will land using
the kinematic equations. Record this distance in table 2.
10. Measure this distance out and mark it before release of the marble. Release the marble
three times and record the distance traveled in Table 2.

Observation Table:
Table 1: Projectile distance and initial velocity
Sr. Table height Distance travelled Calculated Velocity Average Velocity
No. (H) Range (R) Initial velocity (Vo) (Vo,avg.)
1
2
3
4

Table 2: Table height and Projectile distance

Sr. Table height Calculated Distance Actual Distance Average Actual % Error
No. (H) (Ranalytical) (Rexperimental) Distance
1

Result: