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Mass On A Spring

The document describes an experiment to determine the spring constant of a spring by measuring the oscillation period of the spring when attached to masses of varying weight. Five masses between 50g and 250g were used, and the time for 20 oscillations was recorded three times for each mass. The average time periods were calculated and used to determine the spring constant by plotting spring constant versus time period and finding the slope, which equals the spring constant. The spring constant was calculated to be 2.64 N/m with an uncertainty of 0.19 N/m.

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vikarn
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193 views

Mass On A Spring

The document describes an experiment to determine the spring constant of a spring by measuring the oscillation period of the spring when attached to masses of varying weight. Five masses between 50g and 250g were used, and the time for 20 oscillations was recorded three times for each mass. The average time periods were calculated and used to determine the spring constant by plotting spring constant versus time period and finding the slope, which equals the spring constant. The spring constant was calculated to be 2.64 N/m with an uncertainty of 0.19 N/m.

Uploaded by

vikarn
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mass on a spring

Aim: To find the value of the spring constant of a given spring. Attach a mass
to the spring and investigate the relationship between the mass and the frequency of oscillation. Repeat this for 4 more masses and plot a suitable graph to show your results.

Apparatus:
Spring Clamp stand Stopwatch Metre ruler Slotted masses

Variables: Independent variable: mass of the spring Dependent variable: period of oscillation Control variables: number of springs, amplitude of oscillation, medium (still
air), and spring stiffness.

Method:
Attach a spring to the clamp stand. Hang a hanger from the end of the spring and load it with a weight. Extend the spring and mass to any suitable height. Leave the spring at this height and measure the time period for a given
number of oscillations.

Repeat this process for several different weights and record the data.

Data collection
The experiment was repeated for 5 different masses from 50g to 250g and the time taken for 20 oscillations for each mass was recorded thrice. The uncertainty was also derived by subtracting the maximum time taken from the minimum time taken and dividing it by 2.

Raw data
Mass (g) 50 100 150 200 250 T1 (s)
(0.1)

T2 (s)
(0.1)

T3 (s)
(0.1)

Average time (s) (0.1) 14.2 25.3 31.2 38.3 41.2

Uncertainties in time (s)


0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.25

14.2 25.1 31.6 38.4 40.8

14.4 25.2 31.4 38.2 41.4

13.9 25.5 30.7 38.4 41.3

Data processing
We have to find the spring constant of a given spring using the relationship between the mass and the frequency of the oscillation which is . After rearranging the equation I got this .

In this equation T is the time period, m is the mass and k is the spring constant. The time period is found by the average time by the number of oscillations. Time period (s) (0.1) 0.7 1.3 1.6 1.9 2.1 Spring constant 4.03 2.34 2.31 2.29 2.23

Data presentation
4.5 4 3.5 spring constant 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 time period Linear (Spring constant ) Spring constant

Conclusion

= 2.64

= 0.19

= 0.76 I would use an expert system to measure the time period for 20 oscillations as there are no human errors and helps get a more accurate result. Also this experiment should be conducted in a closed room so there is minimal air resistance thus again helping in getting a more accurate result.

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