https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/scenario/mech-con.

htm

S-2 PROBLEMS IN EQUILIBRIUM

1. PURPOSE
To investigate several static equilibrium situations with nonconcurrent forces,
and to analyze these with forces and torques.
2. APPARATUS
Loaded meter stick, support frame made from lab hardware, two ball-bearing
pulleys, string, two weight hangers, slotted weight set, beam balance.
In this experiment you will balance a meter stick under the action of several
applied forces. One force will be the stick's own weight. The stick has been
deliberately "loaded" with lead at one end so that its center of mass will not be at
its geometric center.
The other forces will be measured. Two methods are available for measuring
them.
(1) Spring balances. Advantage: The setup is stable and easy to construct.
Disadvantages: The spring balances' accuracy and precision are not very good.
The balances only read correctly when hanging upright. A ball bearing pulley can
be used to redirect a non-vertical string to a vertical spring balance.
(2) Strings over ball bearing pulleys (or other low friction pulleys) to weight
hangers. Advantage: Very sensitive and accurate. Disadvantage: Very sensitive,
making the system a bit tricky to balance. However, this is clearly the superior
method, and should be used if such quality pulleys are available.
3. BACKGROUND
Reread the theory section of experiment S-1.
4. THEORY

(1) Torque. Torque is

a physical quantity
which plays an
important role in
systems which can
rotate, and in the
conditions which
determine whether
rotation occurs.
Torque involves a
force and an axis, and
Fig. 1. Definition of torque.
the geometric relation
of the force to the axis. The axis can be any line in space. The torque about a
particular axis is the turning effect about that axis due to an applied force.
[The axis in the definition of torque does not depend on whether there is actual
rotation.]
An important class of torque problems consists of physical situations in which all
of the forces lie in one plane. In that case it is usual to choose a torque axis
perpendicular to that plane. The point where it crosses the plane is called the
"center of torques." The "line of action" of a force is a line extended infinitely far
along the direction of the force. The perpendicular distance from the center of
torques to the line of action of the force is called the lever arm, l. The size of the
torque about that center of torques is then given by Torque = f l , where F is the
applied force and l is its lever arm about the chosen axis.
The rotational effect of a torque on a body in the earth's gravitational field is
often associated with the center of gravity of the body, which is defined to be that
point at which a single upward force can balance the gravitational attraction on
all parts of the body for any position of the body. The line of action of the
resultant of all gravitational forces on the body will pass through the center of
gravity, no matter what position the body is in. The center of gravity may also be
defined as the point about which the algebraic sum of all the gravitational toques
is equal to zero for any orientation of the body.
(2) A couple is a pair of oppositely directed, but equal size, forces which do not
lie along the same line. The size of a couple is defined to be the size of its torque,
which is the same value no matter what center of torques is chosen. The torque of
a couple may be expressed in terms of the size of each force and the length of the
perpendicular between the lines of action of the forces:

The size of a couple

does not depend on the
choice of center of
torques, and for a given
F and D, the couple's
effect on the system
does not depend on
where the couple is
applied to the system.
The size of the Torque
of this couple has size
FD.

Fig. 2. Definition of couple.

The resultant force of a couple is obviously zero, but its torque is non-zero.
5. PROCEDURE
A. Suspended Meter Stick
In this part, and part B, you are presented with the problem of balancing a meter
stick under certain given conditions. The stick will be considered balanced when
it is stationary and horizontal. The forces will be supplied by strings suspending
the stick, and by weights hanging from the stick. In the balanced condition we
will insist the strings be
perpendicular to the stick (to keep
calculations simpler).
(1) FINDING THE CENTER OF
MASS. The meter stick has been
Fig. 3. Suspended meter stick.
loaded with lead in one end, so
you can not assume that its center of mass is at the 50 cm mark. The center of
mass and the mass of the stick may be determined by a simple experiment.
Attach two cords over two pulleys to weight hangers as shown in Fig. 1. Now
determine experimentally what size weights placed on the hangers will bring the
stick into balance. The three torques on the stick (what is the third?) now add to
zero, so the torque equation may easily be solved for the two desired quantities.
The position of the center of mass found from the above calculation may be
roughly checked by finding the point at which the stick will balance when
suspended from a single string. The weight may be checked by weighing the
stick on a beam balance.

Does the accuracy of the above method depend on the choice of the two
suspension points? If so, what points are best. You must do the error analysis to
answer this.
Using the data obtained above, solve the following problems mathematically,
then check your answers by balancing the stick experimentally.
(2) PROBLEM: Consider the stick suspended from strings at 30 and 90 cm. If
500 grams were placed on each of these hangers, the stick would, of course, be
unbalanced. What single additional force applied to the stick would bring it into
balance, and where must that force be applied?
(3) Do some careful experimentation to determine, as well as you can, the size of
the frictional torque in each pulley when the stick is balanced under the
conditions of the problem. Use this information to do a complete error analysis
on this situation.
Obtain a third pulley, and try to devise a situation where the stick balances in a
horizontal position, but two of the applied forces are not perpendicular to the
stick. Analyze this mathematically.
B. Couples
Read part A for a general description of meter stick balancing problems.
In all meter stick balancing problems, the stick's own weight provides one
downward force, -W. Suppose that a force +W (equal to the stick's weight) were
applied upward at the 40 cm mark. These two forces, +W and -W, are a couple,
and though their total force is zero, their total torque is not zero. If now an equal
and opposite couple is now also applied, the stick will balance. Calculate the
required couple, then apply it and see if the stick balances.
This couple will balance the stick no matter where it is applied to the stick.
Check this assertion for several different locations. [Relocate the two forces, but
keep the horizontal displacement of their lines of action the same.]
C. Non-Parallel Forces
(1) Relocate one pulley to one of the upright rods. Run a string, H, horizontally
from one end of the meter stick and over that pulley. Adjust the weights to
duplicate Fig. 4, with the meter stick and the string, H, both exactly horizontal.

(2) Measure the angle that string S makes with the horizontal. There is a
goniometer on the back cover of this lab. manual.
(3) Use force and torque analysis to calculate W and a, using only the
experimental values of S, V, H and . Explicitly show the equation(s) you
develop for
this, and
their error
equation(s).
(4) Calculate
the tension,
H, in the
horizontal
string. Check
this by
replacing
this string
with a
sufficiently
sensitive
spring
balance, or
Fig. 4. Arrangement for non-parallel forces.
with another
pulley and weight-hanger. Be certain the stick remains in its previous position
when doing this. It is especially important that the angle not be changed.
6. QUESTIONS
In all questions asking for a proof, or using the language "show that", you must
supply a general mathematical (geometric) proof of the proposition which
follows from the given assumptions. Do not include experimental data in these.
(1) Does a spring balance correctly measure forces in all positions; hanging
down; upside down; and suspended horizontally?
(2) A student doing a lab problem with a balanced meter stick as in parts A and B
notes that all of the weight hangers have equal mass. The student concludes that
the hanger masses may safely be ignored, since their effects would "balance out."
Is this correct? Explain.

(3) Prove that the torque of a force is equal to the sum of the torques of the
components of that force.
(4) If only two forces, forming a couple, act on a body, show that that body
cannot be brought into equilibrium by adding just one more force.
(5) Prove that the size of a couple is independent of the choice of the center of
torques. You may limit the discussion to a two-dimensional situation.
(6) Prove that if a body is in equilibrium under the action of several forces,
among which is a couple, that the body will still balance if the couple is moved to
any other location, provided the couple's size is kept unchanged. You may limit
the discussion to a two-dimensional situation.
(7) [Bernard and Epp] If, in any part of the procedure, the meter stick were
balanced resting at an angle, rather than in a horizontal position, would the meter
stick be in equilibrium?
(8) [Bernard and Epp] Suppose the stick made a 10 angle with the horizontal in
procedure A, but this fact was not taken into account in the calculations. When
the oversight is discovered the situation is recalculated by explicitly including the
10 angle and correctly calculating the true lever arms. How do the "right" and
"wrong" results compare?
Text and diagrams 1997, 2004 by Donald E. Simanek.