Brown University

Department of Physics
Physics 5 and 7 Fall 2006
FEYNMANS RING
0.1 Introduction
When Richard Feynman was an undergraduate student at MIT he became fasci-
nated by a simple freshman experiment known as the oscillating ring. To quote
Feynman,I thought that was the best doggone thing... the remarkable thing is
that physics is so good, in that not only can you gure out something carefully
prepared but something so natural as a lousy old ring hanging o a hook-that
impressed me!(See Reference 2) Well basic introductory physics hasnt really
changed much since 50 years ago when Feynman rst was a freshman so we
reproduce the lab here and hope you become as intringued as the future Nobel
laureate and physics wunderkind became so long ago. The experiment simply
consists of a series of rings of various radii suspended from a knife edge. You
then simply then set the ring vibrating through a small angle of 5 degrees or
less (small angle oscillations) and then measure the period of oscillations.
Figure 1: The Vibrating Ring
1 Theory
The rotational inertia of a thin ring about its axis of suspension can be shown to
be I = (1/2)MD
2
(Hint:use the parallel axis theorem) where D is the diameter
1
of the ring. Making the small angle approximation(
radians
<< 1) show that
the period is given by T =

kI/D, where k = 8
2
/Mg (Hint: the derivation
is very similar to that for the period of a simple pendulum).Also calculate the
period for the case when the ring is not thin.( The rotational inertia will depend
on the inside and outside diameters of the ring in this case). For a ring thickness
of 1/4 inch , is the thin ring approximation good? What percentage error do
you make for all the rings by using this approximation? Be sure to include this
in the error analysis section of your report.
2 Procedure
1. Measure the outside diameter D
out
and inside diameter D
in
and calculate
the mean diameter for each ring. 2. Weigh each ring and record its mass in
a data table. Make several mass measurements and record the average. 3.
Suspend the ring from the knife edge and set it vibrating through a small angle
with an amplitude of 5 degrees or less. 4. For each ring determine the period
T by either one of the following methods: A.)measure the total time for 50
complete oscillations with a stop watch.Record the value to a hundredth of a
second.Repeat three times and take the average. The period(in seconds)will be
this time divided by 50. B.) Use a photogate timer and set it in the pendulum
mode. Record the timer reading after one complete oscillation after release of
the ring.This will be the period. Repeat three times and take the average.
3 Analysis
Plot the period T as a function of diameter D on a graph paper (T = f(D)).We
know from the theory section that T = CD
1/2
,where C =

4
2
/g but sup-
pose we did not know enough physics to calculate this. One way to procede
would be to curve t your data to a power law t. This type of curve tting
feature is included in many software packages(Excel,Kalaidagraph,etc.)or you
can write your own curve tting program. An alternate method is to use log
log paper to plot your data.From the slope and intercept of the log-log plot you
can determine the exponent of D and the proportionality constant. For a review
of log-log plotting see Graphical Analysis by a Log Log Plot in the Physics
5/7 lab manual.From your data calculate the value of g g and compare it
with accepted values.Compare with the theoretical uncertainties in a propa-
gation of error estimate.List as many sources of systematic and random error
as you can.The perceptive experimenter will notice that the period of the ring
pendulum (for a thin ring )has the same formula as that of a simple pendulum
if D = l ( l=length of the string that mass is suspended from ). Check this
experimentally by hanging a weight equal to the mass of the ring suspended by
a string equal to the diameter of the ring and measuring the small oscillation
period.
2
4 Questions
1.What is the radius of gyration of the ring about its axis?
2.What is the center of oscillation of the ring?
3.At what point of its oscillation does the ring have is greatest velocity? At
what point does it have the greatest acceleration?
4.Most of the analysis has been performed using a small angle amplitude approx-
imation, which reduces the system to a simple harmonic oscillator.For large am-
plitude angles(
radians
not small) the simple harmonic approximation no longer
holds. What kind of motion would result? How could the period be found?
Hint: The solution of the equation of motion will be an elliptic function. See
reference 1, pages 276-278.
5 References
1. Daniel Kleppner and Robert Kolenkow Introduction to Mechanics McGraw
Hill 1973.
2. J. Mehra The Beat of a Dierent Drum, Oxford 1994.
3. Harry F. Meiners et al Laboratory Physics second edition, John Wiley and
Sons 1987.
3