Theory
In order to achieve static equilibrium, various conditions have to be met. Among these conditions are the resultant force and its angle of application. Therefore this experiment intends to examine and investigate these factors and conditions necessary for the static equilibrium. According to Newton’s first law, the static equilibrium is achieved when the net force is zero. Therefore, when there is no force acting on an object or the opposite forces acting on an object are equal, then that object can be said to be in a state of static equilibrium. In this experiment, therefore, static equilibrium is achieved by trying to center a ring on a force table using two masses and human force. The human force that acquires the equilibrium and at the angles at which equilibrium is achieved are obtained using a force probe. The resultant force is then calculated mathematically using the Pythagoras theorem. The values of force are compared to determine the accuracy of the experiment and hence the ∆% error.
Error Analysis
The average force was obtained as 0.4295N at 〖133〗^0 for the second weight at 〖270〗^0. Similarly, the average force was obtained as -0.0241N at 〖120〗^0 for the second weight at 〖240〗^0. For the third instance when a mass of 0.1N was added to the second weight at 〖270〗^0, the average force was obtained as 0.8093N at 〖90〗^0. Comparing this values to the calculated values, a ∆% error of 3.95% and another of 101% were obtained in the respective trials. The deviations in the force and angle measurements indicated the presence of systematic errors which would be attributed to friction and uncertainty in reading off the force values.
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Expansion Questions
The experiment is a case of static equilibrium since the system stops moving when an a resultant force of a given magnitude and angle is applied in the opposite direction.
x,y form of forces use the horizontal and vertical force measurements only while the polar form of forces use the angle of the force and either the horizontal or the vertical force only to obtain the resultant force.
