TORQUE AND EQUILIBRIUMS

I.

Objectives
A.
Understand the concepts of torque and rotational equilibrium
B.
Be able to calculate and identify the net torques acting on a
system and clockwise and counterclockwise torques.

II.

Introduction
A.
For a system to be in transitional equilibrium the sum of the
forces acting on the system, in all planes, must be equal to zero.
Likewise, for rotational equilibrium the summation of all of the torques
must be equal to zero.
1.
= 0 ;
= clockwise + counterclockwise
2.
clockwise + counterclockwise = 0
3.
m1 g r1 + m2 g r2 = 0
4.
clockwise = counterclockwise
5.
m1 g r1 = m2 g r2
B.
Torques are a measure of the rotational force that an object has
about a pivot point. They are calculated by multiplying the force by
the distance from the force to the point of rotation. This means that a
larger force will cause greater rotation than a smaller force that is
applied to an object that is free to pivot about a point. Also, a force
applied far from the pivot point will cause greater rotation than a force
applied closer to the pivot point.
C.
In this lab, a meter stick was balanced on a supporting stand.
Weights were added to the meter stick, therefore creating forces and
torques on opposite sides. These forces caused the meter stick to
become unbalanced and thus, the position of the pivot point required a
change in position. Depending on the pivot point, the varying weights,
and the distance between the pivot points and weights, we were to find
the value of certain missing variables so that rotational equilibrium was
maintained.
1.
The net torque was equal to zero when the meter stick was
balanced,

III.

Tables, Graphs, Analysis

A.
View Handwritten Lab

IV.

Discussion and Results

A.
Based on the data collected in the lab, it can be said that the
meter stick was in rotational equilibrium because the values for both
the clockwise and counterclockwise torques were very close in number
in all of the runs

B.
Some possible sources of error in this experiment include a nonuniformly distributed mass of the meter stick, and the possibility for
anomaly in the masses of the hangers. Often the pivot point of a
meter stick is not at the 50 cm position. This is because the meter
stick is made of natural wood, so the mass is not evenly distributed
across the meter stick. A possible method of reconciling the noncentered pivot point is to find the mass per centimeter, and add the
torque due to the mass of the meter stick on each side of the pivot
point to the net torques. This does not fix the problem all the way
though, because it still fails to compensate for the areas of higher and
lower density in the wood.
V.

Conclusion
A.
This lab taught the concepts of rotational equilibrium and
torques. It increased understanding of the principals of rotational
equilibrium through the calculation of rotational equilibrium in
numerous experimental scenarios. It also provided practice for
calculating the net torques acting on a system, and calculating and
identifying clockwise and counterclockwise torques. This was
accomplished through calculating and identifying these values in
multiple scenarios tested in the lab.