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EXPERIMENT:
AIM: (a) To find the weight of a given body using the parallelogram law of vectors.
APPARATUS: stone, paper, stone, oil, water, beaker, air, flashlight, pencil, string
DIAGRAM :
magnitude and direction by the adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then their resultant is
represent in magnitude and direction, by the diagonal of the parallelogram passing through
If a third force W is so applied at the point of intersection of the above two forces that the
common point of application of all the forces is in equilibrium, then the third force is equal
in magnitude but opposite in direction to the sum of the other two forces. This force is called
them. Let R and be the magnitudes of their resultant and equilibrant, then =R=
Procedure: A sheet of paper is fixed on the drawing board using four drawing pins. A thread
of appropriate length, carrying two weight hangers at its ends, is passed over the pulleys.
Slotted weights are added in the weight hangers, as required. Another thread is tied to the
first, at the point O, between the two pulleys. The given solid whose weight is to be
determined, is suspended at the end of this string. Care is taken to see that the weights do
not touch the wooden board, but hangs freely. The body is pulled down a little and released
The weights P and Q are adjusted so that the knot is near the middle of the paper. When
the forces are in equilibrium, the position O of the knot is marked on the paper, just
underneath it, using a fine pencil. The directions OX, OY, OZ of the strings are also are
marked on the paper (to mark the direction of a string correctly, a mirror strip is placed just
below it and adjust the eye so that, there is no parallax between the string and its image. Then
mark the two points at the edges of the mirror strip where the image of the string leaves the
mirror). The weights P and Q on the weight hangers (including the weight of the hangers) are
noted.
The paper is removed from the board. The three pairs of points marked on the paper are
joined and extended to meet at the point O. The three lines thus obtained represent the
Choosing a CONVENIENT SCALE, the forces P and Q are represented by OA and OB along
drawn. Then the parallelogram of law of forces, OD gives the resultant of P and Q in
magnitude and direction. Since the system is in equilibrium, the resultant of P an Q is equal
and opposite to third force (equilibrant), namely the weight of the body. The diagonal OD is
measured and the weight of the given body is found by multiplying OD with the scale used.
The weight obtained above is also verified by using the equation W= , where - is the angle
between the forces P and Q = . The experiment is repeated varying the values of the
To find the relative density of the given solid (unknown mass) and liquid (oil), the
above procedure is repeated using the same unknown mass in water and oil.
Results:
Body in Trial p/g wt Q/g wt OA/cm OB/cm Diagona Unkown wt. mean
1.3695
2. 200 200 6 6 4 W= 1.333
Water 1 100 100 5 5 2.1 W2= 0.42
0.51
0.8585
2.
200 200 6 6 2.9 W=0.967
2 2 2 142 W= 1.302
wate 1 1 1 156 W2= 0.4158
Relative density of liquid = W1-W3 / (W1- W2)= (1.36- 0.86)/ (1.36- 0.51)= 0.5/ 0.85= 0.59
Sources of error: 1.) random error: caused due to poor lighting in lab room
Precautions: 1.) Ensure that a flash light is used in order for a clear and undaunted shadow to
be formed on the sheet of paper.
CONCLUSION: Experiment was carried out successfully and the relative densities of solid
and liquid were calculated to be 1.6 and 0.59 respectively.