Table of Contents

Formal Report Feedback ……....................................................................................................... 1

Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………………. 2

Part I: Resultants and Equilibrium of Concurrent Forces …..……………………………… 3

A. Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3
B. Theory ………………………………………………………………………………….... 3
C. Equipment ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3
D. Experiment ………………………………………………………………………………. 4
E. Results …………………………………………………………………………………… 4
F. Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Part II: Equilibrium of Rigid Body …………………………………………………………… 6

A. Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………..… 6
B. Theory ………………………………………………………………………………….... 6
C. Equipment ……………………………………………………………………………….. 7
D. Experiment ………………………………………………………………………………. 8
E. Results …………………………………………………………………………………… 9
F. Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………………………. 10

Data Sheets ………………………………………………………………………………….….. 11

Diagrams for Part I ……………………………………………………………………………... 15
Calculations for Part I and Part II …………………………………………………………….... 17

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 Part I
Resultants and Equilibrium of Concurrent Forces

A. Objective
To measure force vectors, force resultants, and observe equilibrium of concurrent force
systems.

B. Theory
Suppose an object A is subjected to 2 concurrent forces, namely F1 and F2. Each forces is
a vector defined by both its direction and its magnitude. The total force Fr working on the
object A can be determined by using vector addition F1 + F2. The magnitude of Fr indicates
how much force is done on the object A, while the direction indicates the direction of the
total force acting on the object. Fr is called the resultant of F1 and F2.
Suppose another force Fe exists, which exactly offset the combined effect of F1 and F2. Fe
is then called the equilibrant of F1 and F2. Fe has the same magnitude with Fr, but its
direction is opposite wise.
In this experiment, the equilibrant provides a method for measuring the resultant of forces
done on an object.

C. Equipment
1. Experiment board
2. Spring balance
3. Degree scale
4. Force ring
5. Mass hangers
6. Pulleys
7. Masses
8. String

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D. Experiment
1. Setting up the pulleys and masses as shown in the figure, such that two known forces
are pulling the force ring. Use the holding pin to prevent the ring from moving. The
force exerted by the holding pin is the equilibrant force Fe.

2. Adjust the spring balance to determine the magnitude of Fe when the holding pin is
centered in the force ring. The spring balance must be maintained vertical. A pulley is
used to direct the force to the desired direction. To adjust the magnitude of the force,
the spring balance is moved toward or away from the pulley.
3. To minimize effects of the friction in pulleys, tap the experiment board necessarily.
4. Recording the values of hanging masses used, the magnitudes of forces and their
directions.
5. Varying the magnitudes and directions of the forces F1 and F2, which is done by
adjusting M1 and M2 respectively.

E. Results

Case Fr (N) Fe (N) F Error 𝜽𝒓 (°) 𝜽𝒆 (°) 𝜽 Error

1 0.826 0.726 12.11% 64.44 125 8.17%
2 1.585 1.815 14.51% 71.11 116 6.50%

F. Discussions
1. From the result, we can observe that the equilibrant force does not fully balance the
resultant force. The calculations show that there is a 13% error, which, however, is
actually still justifiable to say that the forces balance each other.

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2. To calculate the theoretical equilibrant force:

The freebody diagram for the force ring is shown in the figure above. The blue line
shows the resultant of the forces determined by paralelogram method, while the read
line shows the equilibrant force. To calculate the resultant force which is done on the
force ring:
 X-axis: 𝐹𝑟𝑥 = 𝐹2 cos 𝜃2 − 𝐹1 cos(180 − 𝜃1 )
 Y-axis: 𝐹𝑟𝑦 = 𝐹2 sin 𝜃2 + 𝐹1 sin(180 − 𝜃1 )
 𝐹𝑟 = √𝐹𝑟𝑥
2 + 𝐹2
𝑟𝑦
𝐹𝑟𝑦
 𝜃𝑟 = tan−1(𝐹 )
𝑟𝑥
Equilibrium is reached when 𝐹𝑒 = 𝐹𝑟 and 𝜃𝑒 = 180° − 𝜃𝑟 , which means we can use
the magnitude of resultant (blue line) force for the equilibrant force with their
directions opposite each other.
However due to the presence of error, the equilibrant might not balance the resultant
force. This error is calculated with the equations below:
|𝐹𝑟 − 𝐹𝑒 |
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = × 100%
𝐹𝑟
|(180 − 𝜃𝑟 ) − 𝜃𝑒 |
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = × 100%
(180 − 𝜃𝑟 )
3. The error involved in the experiment occurs due to several causes, such as paralax
error in measuring the angle, the spring balance is not perfectly vertical, and the force
ring ring is not perfectly in the center.

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 Part II
Equilibrium of Rigid Body

A. Objective
To measure force vectors, arm of the force, and calculate all the moment of the rotational
axis to check equilibrium of rigid body.

B. Theory
Suppose an object is fixed at a point A such that it is free to rotate about the axis A. If a
force F1 is applied to the object with arm L1, there will be a moment of magnitude 𝑀 =
𝐹1 𝐿1 which will enable the object to rotate. However, the object will not move
translationally because the reaction force in the axis cancels the force F1.

An object will be in balance when the sum of all moments due to forces done on it equals
to zero. For example, when the object applied with force F1 is also exposed to forces F2
with arm L2 and F3 with arm L3, as shown in the figure above, the equilibrium equation is:
𝐹1 𝐿1 − 𝐹2 𝐿2 − 𝐹3 𝐿3 = 0
The translational motions will not occur because the forces are cancelled by reaction forces
in the axis. Hence, we can conclude that for a rigid object to be in equilibrium:

∑ 𝐹𝑥 = 0

∑ 𝐹𝑦 = 0

∑ 𝑀𝑜 = 0

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 In this experiment, the rigid body will be modelled as below:

F is the total of mass hanging on the rigid object, mg is the weight of spring scale, Fox and
Foy are the reaction forces of the axis, and theta is the angle between the spring scale and
the horizontal direction. For the body to be in rotational equilibrium:
𝐹𝐿1 + 𝑇 cos 𝜃 ℎ0 = 𝑚𝑔(𝐿2 + 𝑆 cos 𝜃) + (𝑇 sin 𝜃)𝐿2
where the left side of the equation is the moment counter clockwise and the right side of
the equation is the moment clockwise. In other words, rotational equilibrium is reached
when the counter clockwise moment and the clockwise moment equals.
In this experiment, we will measure the tension needed to balance the object and see if the
moments equal to zero during equilibrium.

C. Equipment
1. Experiment packet
2. Drop weight
3. Mass hangers
4. Masses
5. Spring scale
6. String
7. Rulers
8. Materials:
a. 10 cm protractor
b. 30 cm ruler
c. A4 writing pad
d. 4 sheets A4 graph papers

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D. Experiment
1. Setting up the experiment instrument as shown in the figure. The first figure shows
the apparatus without the forces applied, while the second figures shows where the
forces are being applied.

2. Put
two
nd
masses with the mass hanger at the 2 hole on the left side. Put the spring scale at the
2nd hole on the right side and make the string attached to and go through the control
rolls.
𝐻
3. Using the equation tan 𝜃 = , calculate the value of L with a given angle 𝜃 (around 45
𝐿
degrees). Measure a distance L from the edge of slip band O to point B. Move the left
control to point B and fixed. Adjust the right control until the instrument is in balance
(the rigid arm at top should be kept horizontal), as shown in the figure. Record the force
T from the reading of spring scale.
4. Vary the direction of the spring scale such that 𝜃 is around 60 and 75 degrees and repeat
step (3).
5. Change the masses such that the total weight F is 1.7 N. Move the mass hanger to the
1st hole on the left side and put the spring scale at the 2nd hole on the right side. Repeat
steps 3 and 4.

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 6. Change the masses such that the total weight F is 3.2 N. Move the mass hanger to the
2nd hole on the left side and put the spring scale at the 1st hole on the right side. Repeat
𝐻
steps 3 and 4, however this time use the equation tan 𝜃 = 𝐿−𝑑 .
0

E. Results

Case T (N) Angle (°) M+ (N.mm) M- (N.mm) Error %

1 4.4 45 412.59 450.13 9.10
2.7 60 321.00 350.08 9.06
2.0 75 277.70 289.86 4.38
2 5.5 45 492.90 538.80 9.31
3.3 60 376.50 409.30 8.71
2.4 75 323.00 333.90 3.37
3 3.4 45 489.82 533.92 9.00
2.3 60 424.60 451.50 6.34
1.8 75 389.03 394.30 1.35

F. Discussions

1. In the results sheet, it can be observed that the counter clockwise moment M+ does not
exactly balance the clockwise moment M-. There are errors which range from 1.35%
to 9.31%. This is due to some errors occurred in the experiment, such as paralax error
in measuring the lenghts of the arms, paralax error in measuring the tension force and
errors due to mathematical rounding involved in the calculation.
However, because the errors are small, it is justifiable to say that in equilibrium, the
clockwise moment must equal the counter clockwise moment.
2. With weights F, angle of spring scale 𝜃 and the position of both F and spring scale
known, and weight of spring scale ignored, moments in the object can be shown by the
equation:
𝐹𝐿1 + 𝑇 cos 𝜃 ℎ = 𝑇 sin 𝜃 𝐿2
To find out the theoretical tension force, solve the equation for T, to get:
𝐹𝐿1
𝑇=
sin 𝜃 𝐿2 − cos 𝜃 ℎ
3. Improvements in the accuracy of measurement is needed to reduce the number in error.
This includes the use of better approximations for the sine and cosine value, the use of
measuring tools with better precision, and eliminate paralax errors involved in the
experiment.

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 Conclusions

Based on the results of the experiment, it can be concluded:

1. In part 1, the magnitude of the force resultants and equilibrant forces when equilibrium is
reached are reasonably the same.
2. In part 2, the magnitude of clockwise and counterclockwise moments when equilibrium is
obtained, are reasonably the same.
3. From the two experiments, it can be concluded that equilibrium is reached when the net
force equals to zero and net moment is zero.
4. There are errors in the experiments which must be improved to achieve more accurate
results.

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