PHYS 2211L

LAB 4

Atwoods Machine
Purpose
Atwoods machine is a simple elevator: two weights are hung over a pulley and allowed
to accelerate under gravity. The weight of the descending mass is partly counterbalanced
by the weight of the ascending mass, so that the acceleration is small. We will use this
setup to test whether Newtons Laws of Motion can accurately predict the acceleration of
such a system of masses.

Principles
To accurately measure the acceleration of free fall, it is necessary to measure time to a
precision of four decimal places. Before the development of high precision instruments,
physicists did not have that capability. The purpose of the Atwood Machine is to slow the
acceleration of gravity so that high precision is not necessary.
The arrangement is diagrammed below. The weights of the two masses act against each
other, so that by making the difference between the masses small, we can make the
acceleration as small as we like. By timing the motion of the system with a stopwatch
and measuring its displacement, we can determine its acceleration. We can then compare
this experimentally determined acceleration with that predicted by of Newtons Laws.
Newtons Second Law tells us that the vector sum of the forces acting on any system is
equal to the total mass of the system times its acceleration:
(1)

Ma

where M is the total mass, a the acceleration and

the sum of all . . .

is a force. The symbol is read

For the Atwood machine, we ignore the masses of the pulley and the string, since these
are negligible. That leaves two masses (M1 and M2) and three forces: the weights of the
two masses and any friction in the bearings of the pulley. Setting the vector sum of these
forces equal to the total mass times the acceleration gives us:
(2)

M 1 g M 2 g f ( M 1 M 2 )a

where f represents the frictional force and we have used W = mg to evaluate the weights.
Here we take the positive direction for forces and acceleration along the string from M2
to M1 (see diagram). Since the weight of M2 and the force of friction resist the motion,
these forces point in the negative direction and are subtracted.

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PHYS 2211L

LAB 4

Atwoods Machine
Now, the weights are constant forces. The frictional force is also approximately constant
(well treat it as such). Since all forces are constant, the acceleration is also constant and
this is a case of uniformly accelerated motion.
Also, the constant frictional force is equivalent to the weight of some mass, which we can
determine experimentally. If we choose the masses so that the system moves at constant
speed, then the acceleration is zero and equation (2) becomes
(3)

M1g M 2 g f 0

which means the friction in the system is equivalent to the difference in the weights of the
two hanging masses in the special case where the system does not accelerate. Thus the
friction can be expressed as f = Mfg, where Mf = M1 - M2 in this special case. Mf is called
the frictional offset mass.
Inserting this in equation (2), solving and rearranging gives us our theoretical expression
for the acceleration of the system:
(3)

atheory

(M 1 M 2 M f )
(M 1 M 2 )

pulley

To test the validity of equation (3), we need a way to measure the

acceleration experimentally. Since this is uniform acceleration, the
kinematic equations for constant acceleration are applicable. (Refer to
Lab 3 or your Physics text;). If the system starts from rest ( v0 0 ),
then the displacement d in a time t is given by:
d

1 2
at
2

M1

Inverting the above to solve for the acceleration a gives:

(4)

a exp

2d
t2

M2

Thus the acceleration can be determined experimentally by measuring

d (the distance from the bottom of the heavier mass to the floor, for example) and the
time t.

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Atwoods Machine

LAB 4

Experiment
There are two parts to the experiment. First we need to determine the amount of friction
acting on the system, so that the theoretical formula for the acceleration, equation (3), can
be evaluated. Then we will time the motion of the system and compare its actual
acceleration with theory.
To determine the frictional force on the system, we put an equal amount of mass on each
hanger and set the system in motion by giving it a small push. By trial and error we can
determine what extra mass must be placed on the descending hanger so that the system
remains in motion at constant speed. The frictional force (expressed as Mfg in equation
3) should be equivalent to the weight of this extra mass. For good results, we need to
determine the frictional force to within a gram weight.
Note: For a system like Atwoods Machine, the friction in the system is probably the result of
several effects: actual friction in the bearings of the pulley, air resistance against the mass hangers,
torques in the string, etc. Well lump all these effects under the heading friction, and take that to
mean, whatever resistive forces are acting against the system beside the weight of the ascending
mass. We assume these effects can be approximated as a constant force.

To determine constant speed in the system, it is convenient to use a motion detector and
DataStudio. This can be set up to graph the systems velocity. Any acceleration in the
system will show up as a non-zero slope in the plot. If a motion detector is not available,
generations of experimenters have achieved good results by eyeballing it.

Equipment

Table clamp
Support rod
Right-angle clamp
Double pulley
Mass set
Mass hangers (2)

2-meter stick
String
Timer
Paperclips
DataStudio system
Motion Sensor

Procedures
1. Set up the Atwood Machine.

Mayr 05

Set up a vertical support rod at the edge of a lab table. Clamp a right-angle clamp
to the upright rod and secure the double pulley in the right-angle clamp with the
rod of the double pulley centered in the clamp and parallel to the floor.

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Atwoods Machine

LAB 4

Experiment

Adjust the pulleys so that they are vertical and parallel to each other. Sight along
the groove of the pulleys to ensure a good alignment, and recheck the alignment
throughout the experiment.
Get a piece of string about 2 meters long. Run the string over the pulleys and tie a
mass hanger to each end. Arrange the equipment so that a mass hanger can fall at
least 1.2 meters to the floor.
Place 1010 grams on each hanger. The hanger itself has 50 grams, so the total
mass on each side should be 1060 grams. For the hanger that will be ascending
(call the total mass M2), let the last 10 grams be in change, using 5-, 2- and 1gram pieces. During the experiment you will transfer mass from this hanger to
the other (call that mass M1) in 2-gram increments.

2. Find the frictional offset mass, Mf.

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Set up the motion detector on the floor below hanger 2. Set it on wide beam with
its face tilted up and align the detectors screen with the bottom of the mass
hanger. Plug the detectors yellow cable into channel 1 on the Science Workshop
box. The black cable goes into channel 2.
Call up the DataStudio file for this experiment on the computer (It may be named
Atwood.ds.) This should display a velocity graph. When you are ready to take
data, you will click the Start button on the menu bar and the program will graph
the velocity of the hanger over time. The program should be configured for
delayed start and automatic stop operation. This means the system will delay
taking data after the start button is clicked, to give you time to set the Atwood
Machine in motion. It will stop taking data after a fixed time interval.
Put an extra gram mass on hanger 1. Start DataStudio, then give the pulley a
slight push to start the system moving slowly. Observe whether the system
remains in motion all the way to the floor, and whether it speeds up or slows
down. Examine the DataStudio plot: if the slope is negative, the system is
decelerating; if positive it is accelerating. (The plot may be noisy, but you can
detect accelerations from the general trend of the points.)
If the system decelerates after an initial push, put more mass on hanger 1 and test
the system again. Keep adding mass until the system moves at close to constant
speed. Then switch to adding paper clips (mass about 0.4 grams) to narrow it
down to the nearest fraction of a gram. The total mass added is equivalent to Mf.
If the system speeds up (accelerates) at any time, remove mass from hanger 1.
However, do not go below 1060 grams on hanger 1. If the system accelerates
without any extra mass on hanger 1, then switch directions: let hanger 1 be the
ascending mass (rename it hanger 2) and hanger 2 be the descending mass
(rename it hanger 1). Then find the frictional offset mass as above.
Weigh the extra mass to the nearest 1/10 gram and record the result for Mf .
Leave the extra mass on hanger 1 for the remainder of the experiment. (A tricky

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Experiment
point: this extra mass is not itself Mf . Mf is the mass equivalent of friction not
really a mass at all. We leave this extra mass on hanger 1 as a practical matter, to
ensure the system will accelerate from rest when the difference in weight between
the two hangers is small. The extra mass on hanger 1 should be included in M1 in
your calculations.)
3. Time the fall of hanger 1.

Disconnect the motion detector and set it aside.

Tape a two-meter stick upright next to hanger 1 so you can measure its height
above the floor. With hanger 2 held on the floor, measure the distance from the
bottom of hanger 1 to the floor. Record this distance, d, in your data. Leave the
meter stick in place so you can recheck the starting position of hanger 1
throughout the experiment. The string may stretch over time.
Measure the time it takes hanger 1 to fall to the floor for five different mass sets:
o Holding hanger 2 to the floor so that the system remains motionless, take
two grams off hanger 2 and put them on hanger 1.
o Release the system and start the stopwatch simultaneously. Dont wait for
the system to begin moving noticeably to start the watch: start exactly
when the system is released.
o Stop the stopwatch when hanger 1 hits the floor. Dont stop the watch
after it hits the floor: try to anticipate the exact moment it hits. Take a few
practice runs to get the hang of it.
o Repeat the timing procedure at least five different times and find the
average time, tav, for the fall.
o Record M1, M2, the time for each trial and tav in your data. M1 is the total
mass on hanger 1, including the offset mass and the hanger. M2 is the total
mass on hanger 2, including the hanger.
o Perform the above steps five times. Each time you are decreasing M2 by
two grams and increasing M1 by two grams, so that the mass difference
between the two hangers increases by four grams each time. The
advantage of doing it this way is that the total mass (M1 + M2) is always
the same.

Analysis

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For each of the five cases, use equation (3) and your data to calculate the
theoretical value for the acceleration of the system, atheory.
For each of the five cases, calculate the range of error in the theoretical value,
atheory. Treat the masses as exact (i.e., M1 = M2 = 0) but make an estimate

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Experiment

of your uncertainty in the frictional force. For instance, if you narrowed Mf

down to the nearest paper clip, then Mf would be the mass of one paper clip.
For each of the five cases, use equation (4) and your data to calculate the
experimental value of the acceleration of the system, aexp.
Calculate the standard deviation in the time of fall for each of the five cases.
Determine the uncertainties aexp in the experimental results aexp, using the
standard deviations in the times as t. Estimate d based on the precision of
your measurement of d.
Find the percent difference between atheory and aexp for each of the five cases
and determine if the range of error in your prediction and the uncertainty in
the experimental result overlap for each of the cases.

Questions
1. Would the acceleration have been different if the Atwood Machine had been
started with an initial velocity?
2. What variable(s) would have changed if there had been an initial velocity? (i.e.,
displacement, final velocity, acceleration and/or time).
3. What was your estimate for the force of friction on the Atwood Machine in
newtons (i.e., the weight of the offset mass.)?
4. Using your last data set (mass set 5) and the measured value of the acceleration
aexp, use equation (3) to determine what the force of friction actually was.

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Atwoods Machine

LAB 4

Data
Note: Your data should be recorded in your lab notebook. The following is a guide only
Frictional offset mass (Mf): ____________

Distance to floor (d):

____________

Table 1: Time of Fall

Mass
set
1
2
3
4
5

M1
(kg)

M2
(kg)

T1
(sec)

T2
(sec)

T3
(sec)

T4
(sec)

T5
(sec)

Tav
(sec)

Atwoods Machine

LAB 4

Data

Table 2: Experimental & Theoretical Accelerations

Mass
set
1
2
3
4
5

atheory
(m/s2)

atheory
(m/s2)

aexp
(m/s2)

aexp
(m/s2)

%
difference