Physics Home > Teaching Labs > Mechanics > Free Body Diagrams

Topics

Points of Emphasis

Prerequisites

Lab Activities

The purpose of this lab is to give the students experience: (1) in applying Newton's Second Law and (2) in drawing and using free-body diagrams. The lab has three parts:

• Pulleys: The students are given a set of pulleys, various pieces of lab hardware (bars, C-clamps, etc.), a set of hooked masses and a ball of string. With this equipment, they are asked to build an apparatus that will lift a mass while exerting a force equal to only a quarter of the mass's weight.
  
  
• The Fairchild Elevator: Using a dial spring balance and 8 1-kilogram masses, the students are asked to determine the acceleration of the Fairchild elevator.
  
  
• Circular motion: The equipment for this part consists of an air table with a hole in the center. In the hole is a pulley attachment. A string is run from an air puck on the table over the pulley and down through the hole. A hooked mass is suspended from the other end of the string underneath the table. The students are asked to launch the air puck in such a way that the puck travels in a circle and to calculate the centripetal force on the puck.
  
  

Course Level

Introductory

Student Handouts

Equipment

Number of set-ups available: 10 Per lab station: 2 large metal bars (~ 1 meter long) 2 medium metal bars (~2 feet long) 2 C-clamps 4 ring stand clamps 2 small hooked collars 4 200 gm hooked masses 4 100 gm hooked masses 1 spring balance (0-500 gm range) 1 ball of string 1 pair of scissors 1 single pulley with bar 1 single pulley without bar 1 double pulley 1 plastic tray to hold miscellaneous small items One Setup Containing: 1 chair with a hard wooden seat 1 dial spring balance 8 1 kg slotted masses One Setup Containing: 1 balance/standard mass set 1 large air table 1 pulley attachment for center of air table 1 air puck/washer style weights 1 large lab table with a hole in center (~1 in. in diameter) 1 air supply 1 air hose 2 hose clamps 1 pair of scissors 1 stopwatch 1 ball of string - small diameter 1 200 gm hooked mass 2 100 gm hooked masses 2 50 gm hooked masses 1 meter stick 1 roll of masking tape

Pulleys Fairchild Elevator Air Table

Notes

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