COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

PHYS 3005
Experimental Methods of Physics I

LABORATORY MANUAL
Fall Semester 2024
Contents
General Laboratory Safety Rules…………………………………………………………… 3
Experiment 1: Variable “g” Pendulum…………………………………………………… 6

Experiment 2: Rotational Motion…………………………………………………………… 13

Experiment 3: Resonance Modes of a String………………………………………….. 20

Experiment 4: Driven Damped Harmonic Oscillations……………………………. 29

Experiment 5: Collision in Two Dimensions……………………………………………. 39

Experiment 6: Ratio of Specific Heats of a Gas………………………………………. 44

Experiment 7: Introduction to Thermal Radiation and Inverse Square

Law for Radiation ………………………………………………………………………………… 48

Experiment 8: Stefan-Boltzmann Law at High and Low Temperature…… 54

Experiment 9: Conductivity of Materials……………………………………………….. 60
Experiment 10: Electrical Oscillations………………………………………..………….. 65

Experiment 11: Photoconductivity ….......................……………………..………. 71

Appendix 1: Simple Error Analysis …………………..........................…………… 75

Appendix 2: Using Data Analysis Package (ORIGIN) ………….…………………… 83

Appendix 3: Introduction to Simple Harmonic Motion…………………………… 93

Appendix 4: Students Responsibilities…………………………………………………… 106

Appendix 5: Guidelines on Diary Keeping and Report Writing ………………. 107

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 Emergency contact details
Fire Brigade (Civil Defence) : 4444

Accident and Emergency (Hospital) : 4615/1721

SQU security : 1003/24413999/112

AC/Water spillage /Electricity/Gas/Sewage/Elevator : 3333

GENERAL LABORATORY SAFETY RULES (PHYSICS)

The following regulations will be enforced. Students who do not follow the safety rules
will be subject to dismissal from the laboratory.

1. No student will be permitted in the laboratory without an instructor. No visitors

are permitted.
2. Do not touch any equipment or supplies without specific authorization. All
experiments must be approved by the instructor. Examine all apparatus for defects
before performing any experiments. Do not use damaged, cracked, or otherwise
defective glassware. Consult your instructor about where to place broken glass. If
you break a thermometer or find a broken thermometer, report it to your
instructor immediately.
3. Do not take laboratory equipment, glassware outside the lab without the
permission of the instructor.
4. Eating and drinking are not permitted in the laboratory.
5. Laboratory aprons when provided, must be worn during the laboratory. Safety
goggles must be worn for specific experiments.
6. All aisles in the laboratory must be kept open at all times. Personal belongings
should be kept below the table and out of the working area.
7. Know the locations and operational details of all laboratory emergency safety
equipment and evacuation routes.
8. Report all unsafe conditions, unusual odors and personal injuries to the instructor
or a staff member immediately.
9. Leave your lab bench as you found it. With the equipment neatly placed at the end
of the table nearest the center aisle. The lab bench area should be free of debris.
10. Carefully follow all instructions from instructors and laboratory staff.
11. For your protection, it is better to avoid wearing jewelry, when working in the
laboratory. Dangling jewelry can become entangled in equipment and can conduct
electricity. The use of headphones (i.e. iPods) other than approved hearing
protection devices is prohibited.
12. When the fire alarm sounds you must evacuate the building via the nearest exit.
Extinguish all flames and turn off all equipment, as appropriate, before leaving.
13. Persons not following these rules will be asked to leave the laboratory.

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14. Students who suffer from any disabilities (like color blindness or hearing
difficulties) or any specific health issues, should inform their instructor well in
advance.

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS

In the laboratory, workers may be exposed to electrical hazards including electric

shock, arc blasts, electrocutions, fires and explosions. Potential exposures to electrical
hazards can result from faulty electrical equipment/instrumentation or wiring,
damaged receptacles and connectors, or unsafe work practices.
1. Always follow manufacturer’s recommendations for using electrical equipment.
2. Do not use electrical equipment to perform a task for which it is not designed.
3. Most equipment includes either a 3-pronged plug or double insulation.
Equipment with neither of these features is less safe but may meet electrical
codes. You will not be protected from electric shock if a 3-pronged plug is not
inserted into a 3-prong outlet.
4. If you plug more than two pieces of low demand equipment into a standard
outlet, use a fused power strip that will shut off if too much power is used.
5. Above all, do not disable any electrical safety feature.
6. Before turning equipment on, check that all power cords are in good condition.
7. Do not use extension cords as a substitute for permanent wiring.
8. If you see a person being electrocuted, DO NOT TOUCH THEM! The electricity
can go through you, too. If possible, turn off the power (pull the plug or trip the
circuit breaker), or use an item made of non-conductive material (e.g., wooden
broom handle) to pry him or her away from the contact. Call
9999/24144444/24144615/24141721 immediately
9. Soldering Iron Safety
a) Never touch the element or tip of the soldering iron. They are very hot
(about 400°C) and will burn. Hold wires to be heated with tweezers or
clamps. Keep the cleaning sponge wet during use.
b) Always return the soldering iron to its stand when not in use. Never put it
down on your workbench. Turn unit off or unplug it when not in use.

4
c) Wear eye protection. Solder can “spit”. Always wash your hands with soap
and water after soldering.
d) Dangers of Lead Exposure:
Lead on your skin can be ingested and lead fumes can be given off during
soldering. Other metal fumes can also be hazardous. Lead can have serious
chronic health effects, such as reproductive problems, digestive problems,
nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems, muscle and joint pain.
Avoid Toxic Fumes Work in a well-ventilated area. The smoke formed is
mostly from the flux which can be irritating, a sensitizer and aggravates
asthma. Avoid breathing it by keeping your head to the side of, not above,
your work.
e) Reduce Risk from Electricity
Always use a grounded outlet and grounding prong to reduce the risk of
electrical damage if a short circuit occurs in the equipment. Prevent damage
to electrical cords during soldering. Keep them away from heated tips.
f) Fire Prevention.
Work on a fire-proof or non-flammable surface that is not easily ignited.
Know where your fire extinguisher is and how to use it.
g) First Aid:
Immediately cool the affected area under cold water for 15 minutes.
Do not apply any creams or ointments. Cover with a band-aid. Seek medical
attention if the burn covers an area bigger than 3 inches across.
h) Waste:
Discard lead and silver solder in a container with a lid. Label the container:
“Lead (Silver) Solder Waste for Recycling”. Used solder sponges and
contaminated rags must be disposed of as hazardous waste. Keep a lid on
waste solder containers when not adding or removing material.

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 Experiment 1: Variable “g” Pendulum
Aims

You probably have performed a simple pendulum experiment before to obtain

the value of g. So, why this experiment again? Here, we want you to proceed in
various ways:
 First, to use a stopwatch to make one single measurement and evaluate the
associated errors.
 Second, to use your knowledge of statistics to evaluate the errors in case of
repeated measurements.
 Third, to use the Arduino to automate the data (period) measurements.
 Fourth, to measure the period of oscillations of a pendulum as a function of
the length of the pendulum and to measure the acceleration due to gravity g.
To observe the effect of rotating the plane of oscillations and to confirm that
the effective gravitational acceleration is given by g cos
 And, above all, to reflect on a better, more refined, methodology in order to
produce an improved result for g.

You will need to revise your knowledge of data analysis (the mean, standard
deviation, error propagation). Refer to the appendix if not sure!

Introduction
Q1: Using Newton’s second law, write down the
differential form of the equation of motion,
which describes a Simple Harmonic Motion L
(SHM). 

Q2: Show that using Fig.1, the result of Q1 can be

T
written as
d 2 g [1]
2   sin  F
dt L
This equation is not that of a SHM, however if  
is small (< 15 O) then sin ~  and eqn. 1
becomes
d 2 g mg
2   
[2]
dt L Figure 1: The forces acting
Eqn. 2 represents a SHM. Its solution can be on the mass of a simple
pendulum.
written as  = 0cos (t+) where 0 is the
amplitude of the oscillation and is the phase.
The angular frequency  and period T are given

6
by
𝑔
𝜔=√ [3]
𝐿

𝐿
𝑇 = 2𝜋√ [4]
𝑔

Thus, the period of the pendulum depends only on its length.

Squaring both sides of equation (4), we obtain a linear relationship between T2 and l :

4𝜋 2
𝑇2 = 𝐿 [5]
𝑔

This provides a means of measuring g.

Apparatus
The apparatus consists of a pendulum whose plane of rotation can be changed from
vertical to horizontal. This has the effect of changing the effective gravitational force
on the pendulum. This will be discussed below.
Loosen the two thumbscrews that hold the
pendulum-mounting bracket to the degree
plate.
Rotate the pendulum so the angle indicator
points to 90˚.
Adjust the levelling feet until the pendulum
will stay at rest at any point in its swing.
Return the pendulum to the vertical, 0˚
position. (Loosen screws again).

Figure 2: The variable “g” Pendulum

Part A: Simple vertical pendulum

Set the “bob” to the end of the rod.

You will need to measure the length L of the pendulum (from the centre of the bob to
the pivot) using the ruler provided and determine the expected measurement
uncertainty ∆L on this measurement. Justify your choice for this uncertainty.

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Important: We will distinguish between a measurement uncertainty and the
statistical uncertainty. The former is the expected uncertainty on each
measurement. It arises from the least count or from the calibration error of the
instrument used. The latter is associated with the statistical spread of a large
number of measurements and usually calculated as the standard deviation of the
measurements. We will denote the former using the symbol ∆ and the latter using
the symbol σ.

1. Stopwatch timing

One can use a stopwatch to determine the time period for one full oscillation T. What
do you think the measurement uncertainty ∆T is on any one measurement of T? Is it
related to your reaction time? Briefly comment on this issue.

MEASUREMENT (1): Swing the pendulum through a small angle. Record the period T
of a single oscillation of the pendulum using a stopwatch. Use this single
measurement, the measurement uncertainty ∆T, and your measurement of L
± ∆L to determine g ± ∆g.

MEASUREMENT (2): Now record 10 measurements for a single oscillation of the

pendulum using a stopwatch. From these measurements, you can calculate a
standard deviation which will be your measure of the statistical uncertainty in
T. Compare this statistical uncertainty with the measurement uncertainty you
recorded earlier. Are they comparable? Use the statistical uncertainty in T to
determine g ± σg. Is this a better measurement? Discuss.

MEASUREMENT (3): Now record 10 measurements for 10 oscillations of the pendulum

using a stopwatch. What is the uncertainty on T now? Use these data to
calculate g ± σg and compare this value with your previous calculations.
Comment.

2. Arduino timing

Timing using a stopwatch is not optimal as the uncertainty in timing one period of
oscillation is relatively large. As a result, one can implement an automated data
acquisition (DAQ) system using an Arduino connected to a photogate. This gives a
resolution on timing at the level of a millisecond.

8
In this part of the experiment, we use an infrared
emitter-receiver pair (photogate) to detect the passage
of the pendulum bar through a point in its oscillations.
The circuit for the Arduino DAQ system is shown in
Figure 3 (Educate yourself on the Arduino and its uses,
by referring to the Arduino website and the resources
provided on Google Classroom).
There are three wires coming from the infrared
photogate: one is the ground, one is the 5 V power
supply and the third one is the output that should be
connected to the input (pin) 12 of the Arduino (any
other digital pin will do, provided that you modify the
program accordingly). When the light beam is
interrupted, the photogate cuts off the current flow
and the Arduino receives a LOW input on pin 12. Figure 1: The Arduino circuit diagram
Otherwise, pin 12.

ONE period of oscillations corresponds to the bar cutting twice the infrared light beam.
The program written for the Arduino (study the program and try to understand how it
works) computes the time elapsed between the two interruptions. This value (period)
is sent to the serial port for display on the console. The time displayed is in
microseconds and if you convert to seconds, make sure to give the results with at least
six decimal places.

An example of the recorded times (in microseconds) are:

1055020
1055728
1054776
1056572
1054936
1055232
1055056
1055508
1055040
1054880
1055232

The Arduino programme for this experiment is provided at the end of this script.

MEASUREMENT (4): Upload the Arduino code. Using this DAQ system record at
least10 measurements of a single period of oscillation. Calculate the statistical

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 error on this set of measurements and evaluate g ± σg. Compare with the
earlier measurements and discuss.

BONUS (EXTRA) TASK.

For this bonus task, modify the Arduino program to make it measure the time of 10
periods instead of one period. Using the DAQ system record 10 measurements of 10
periods of oscillations. Calculate the statistical error on this set of measurements and
evaluate g ± σg. Compare with the earlier measurements and discuss.

MEASUREMENT (5): It is left to you to decide how to proceed in doing the subsequent
measurements. Make measurements of the period of the pendulum for seven
positions of the bob between the lowest position and 10 cm.
Plot on a graph of (Period)2 vs. Bob Position. If equation (5) is correct then
this should be a straight line.
Draw the line of best fit to the data. From the slope, determine a value for g ±
∆g.
Comment on the agreement with the best-accepted value of 9.8 m/s2.

Part 2. Variable g pendulum

Theory
When the plane of oscillation is rotated by an angle 
the pendulum bob still has a gravitational force equal
to mg pulling it downward. However, the component
of mg in the plane of oscillation is now only
(mg)cosThis is now analogous to the standard
pendulum but with the restoring force (mg) being
replaced with (mg)cos. The angular frequency and
period become

𝑔𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
𝜔=√ [5]
𝐿

𝐿 𝑇0
𝑇 = 2𝜋√ = [6]
𝑔𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ √𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
where T0 is the period for  = 0˚.
Measurements
Set the “bob” to the end of the rod. Set the plane of oscillation to 0˚. Swing the
pendulum through a small angle. Measure the period of the pendulum (Texpt) for small
oscillation angles 10 times and record the values in the table below. Calculate the
10
average. Measure the distance of the centre of the bob from the pivot using a ruler.
Record this value and estimate its uncertainty. Loosen the two thumbscrews that hold
the pendulum-mounting bracket to the degree plate and set the angle at 10˚. Tighten
the thumbscrews. Repeat the measurements every ten degrees to 70˚.
 cos Texpt. Ttheory
Plot a graph of Period (Texpt) versus cosas scattered deg (s) (s)
points using Origin software 0
Calculate the values for Ttheory(for different valuesof 10
using equation 6. 20
Plot, as a solid line, the values of Ttheory(onto the .
same graph of Texpt versuscos. .
Comment on the agreement between the plots. .
70

Reflection

An important part of any experimental investigation is to step back and think about what
you have done, what it means, and what could be improved. Reflect on your work with
the simple pendulum, in particular on how you have used statistics to refine your
understanding of the problem and any limitations of the experimental setup, or on the
methodology, you have identified. Note down any possible improvements to the
methodology that could be used in the future.

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Appendix: The Arduino program:
unsigned long startTime;
unsigned long actualTime;
unsigned long period1;
unsigned long period2;
boolean firstPass;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(12,INPUT_PULLUP);
// Start timing (in microseconds)
startTime = micros();
}
void loop() {
// Record the current time
actualTime = micros();
// If the beam is interrupted
if(pulseIn(12,HIGH)) {
// First passage of the bar
if(firstPass) {
// This is the first half of the period
period1 = actualTime - startTime;
firstPass = false;
} else {
// This is the second half of the period
period2 = actualTime - startTime;
// The full period is the sum of the two halves
Serial.println(period1 + period2);
firstPass = true;
}
// Reassign the starting time variable
startTime = actualTime;
}
}

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 Experiment 2: Rotational Motion
Preparatory questions
1. Draw a diagram describing the forces acting on the hanging mass "m". Apply
Newton’s second law for "m" and write down the equation of net torques acting on
"m''.
2. In rotational motion, how is the linear acceleration related to the angular
acceleration?
3. Define the angular acceleration in terms of the angular velocity.
4. What is the moment of inertia of a disc of mass M and radius R?
5. Define the conservation of angular momentum law.
6. What is angular momentum of a rigid body rotating with an angular velocity?
INTRODUCTION
In this experiment you apply some of the knowledge of classical mechanics you have
acquired in the general physics I courses. You will verify:
 Newton’s second law
F = ma for linear motion
 = I for rotational motion
 The conservation of energy
 The conservation of angular momentum
APPARATUS
The rotational dynamic apparatus you have provides an almost friction free
environment to study the rotational motion.

IMPORTANT: The disks are manufactured with a high degree of precision.

DO NOT SCRATCH THEM.
DO NOT ROTATE THE DISKS AGAINST EACH OTHER UNLESS THE AIR IS
DELIVERED TO THE SYSTEM.

The rotation system, Figure 1, consists of:

 Two disks A and B.
 A mass m that can be attached to the disk A by a string going over pulley.
 A compressor to provide air cushions to support the disks and to remove the
friction of the pulley.
 A timing unit to measure the angular velocity of the disks.
The apparatus can be operated with one disk only or with both disks. Underneath the
apparatus there is an open-ended rubber pipe connected to the compressed air
system this pipe can be either left open or closed with a clamp. When the pipe is open,
there is no air supply to the bottom disk (B) so this disk is fixed; when the pipe is closed
the air goes under disk B and provides an air cushion to the disk B and can rotate freely
as well.

13
The air supply to the top disk (A) can also be cut off by removing the drop pin from the
center of the disk.
Investigating the instrument
First familiarise yourself with the apparatus:
 Observe and understand how the air system works. Learn how to send the air to
the top disk only and how to send the air to both disks.
 Learn how to place the mass, the thread and the thread holder on the system; take
them apart and put them back.
 Remove the string holder and the hanging mass, place the drop pin into the hole in
the middle of the top disk connect the air to both disks. Push the disks with your
hand to make them rotate freely (first in the same direction then in opposite
directions) learn how to drop the top disk on the bottom disk by removing the drop
pin.
 Observe the black bars on the side of the disk. These lines are used to measure the
angular velocity of the disk. Identify the optical reader that counts the number of
bars when the disk is rotating; the number of bars per second that pass in front of
the counter is displayed on the digital display.
The manufacturer of the instrument gives some useful data about the apparatus:
Both disks have the same radius R = 6.3  0.5 cm
The mass of the top disk is Mtop = 1.354  0.005 kg
The mass of the bottom disk is Mbot = 1343  0.005 kg
The radius of the thread holder is r = 1.27  0.05cm
These are the data provided by the manufacturer, how would you estimate the
uncertainty on these data?

Figure1. The Rotational Dynamics Apparatus

14
Measurement of angular velocities:
The optical reader gives the number of
black bars passing in one second. The The angle
following data allows you to calculate the corresponding to
angular velocity: 1 bar =  = s/R
Distance between black bars s = 2 mm
So the angle corresponding to X bars is:
s
  X
R
s
and the angular velocity is:   N
R
where N is the number of bars per second given by the digital display. There is a switch
on the timing unit to select if you want to measure the velocity of the top disk or the
bottom disc.
Experiment A: Newton’s second law in rotational motion.

Newton’s second law in rotational motion gives the relation between the torque
applied to an object and its angular acceleration:
  I
where  is the applied torque,  is the angular acceleration and I is the moment of
inertia of the object.
Theory
In the present experimental setup a hanging mass (m) is attached to a string that is
wound around the thread holder of radius r fixed to the rotating disk of mass M and
radius R.

Applying Newton’s second law to the disk and r R

to the mass m one gets T
Tr  I and mg  T  ma
where T is the tension in the string and a is
the linear acceleration of the mass,  is the T

angular acceleration of the disk and I is the
moment of inertia of the disk. a and  are a
related to each other by
a=r mg

Solving for angular acceleration, one finds:

mgr

I  mr 2
The moment of inertia of a disk of mass M and radius R is: I  12 MR 2

15
 mgr
So  
mr 2
1
2 MR (1 
2
)
MR 2

The second term, mr2/MR2 in the denominator may be neglected because:

 The radius r of the thread holder is much smaller than the radius R of the disk
 The hanging mass m is much smaller than the mass the M of the rotating disk
With this approximation, we have
mgr
 with I  12 MR2 [1]
I
Experiment: Angular acceleration measurements
In this experiment you attach the mass to the disk and then release the system, Figure
2. You measure the angular velocity  of the disk at equal time intervals as the hanging
mass is accelerating downwards. The graph of  against time t will be used to calculate
the angular acceleration .

Figure 2. Angular Velocity measurement set-up

1) Only the top disk is rotating in this experiment. Therefore, the pipe underneath the
apparatus should be opened so that there is no air supply to the bottom disk and it
rests on the base plate.
2) Flip the switch on the optical reader to TOP position. Attach the hanging mass m to
the top disk.
3) Wind the string onto the small pulley until the hanging mass is almost against the
base plate.
4) Hold the disk still until the display on the optical reader gives zero.

16
5) Release the disk. As the mass m falls, record the successive readings of the optical
reader. The optical reader displays a reading every 2 seconds. You should get at
least 6 readings before the mass reaches the lowest point. The first and the last
readings are not usable and should be discarded (why?).
6) Record your measurements in a table like this:

t (s) 2 4 6 8 10 12
Reading
(rad s-1)

7) Calculate the angular velocity for each reading.

8) Plot  against time t and calculate the experimental angular acceleration  from
the graph. You expect your graph to be a straight line going through the origin; it is
very likely that your graph does not go through the origin. Why?
9) Calculate the theoretical value of the angular acceleration  from the right hand
side of equation (1) and compare with your measurement.
10) Repeat this procedure for three different masses or heights (ie three tables)
11) Give some comments.
Experiment (B): Conservation of energy.
The kinetic energy of a rotation rigid body is
K  12 I 2
For the disk-mass system illustrated on the figure, the equation for the conservation of
energy is:
1
2 I12  12 mv12  mgh1  12 I 22  12 mv22  mgh2 [2]
where the subscripts 1, 2 refer to initial and final states.
r




h1

Reference level
h2

The linear velocity of the falling mass and the angular velocity of the rotating disk are
related by
v = r

17
If we take t1 to be the instant at which the mass m is released then the left-hand side is
just mgh1 where h1 is the initial height of the hanging mass.
By measuring the angular velocity 2 and the height h2 at a later time t2 all quantities
in the right-hand side can be calculated.
Procedure:
 The experimental setup is the same as in part A.
 Measure h1 the initial height of the hanging mass.
 After the mass is released you need to measure simultaneously the angular
velocity of the disk and the position of the mass when it is almost at the bottom.
One way to proceed is as follows:
One student watches the display of the timer and the other student watches the
height. When the hanging mass is released and when the mass is almost at the
bottom, the first student takes a reading and at the same instant gives a signal to the
other student to read the position.
Repeat the measurements several times (four trail) and take the average. Be careful of
how you take the average, it is not straightforward, you need to think!!
 Present your measurements in a table like this:

height h (m) display reading  (rad s-1) v (m s-1) Total energy (J)
initial
final

 Is the energy conserved? Give some comments. Could you find a method to
measure the friction in the system?
 Repeat at least for three different mass or height

Experiment (C): Conservation of Angular Momentum

The angular momentum of a rigid body rotating with an angular velocity is:
L  I
where I is the moment of inertia of the rigid body with respect to the axis of rotation.
Consider two disks with moment of inertial I1 and I2 respectively, rotating at different
angular velocities 1 and 2.
Let one disk drop onto the other so that they stick together and continue to rotate at a
common angular velocity This is the rotational equivalent of a completely inelastic
collision. The law of conservation of angular momentum states that the total angular
momentum of the two disk system before and after the collision is the same.

L1 + L2 = L’1 + L’2

before after

I1 + I2 = (I1 + I2)

18
Both disks are now free to rotate. The rotating top disk will be dropped on the bottom
disk which is rotating at a different angular velocity. After the two disks stick together,
the final angular velocity will be measured.
Procedure:
 Remove the string holder and the hanging mass from the apparatus. Place the drop
pin into the hole in the middle of the top disk.
 Allow the air supply to the bottom disk so it is free to rotate.
 Switch the display button to TOP position and give the top disk a fast spin
 Switch the display button to BOTTOM position so that you can monitor the motion
of the bottom disk. Without disturbing the top disk, give a spin to the bottom disk
in the opposite direction to the rotation of the top disk.
 Measure the angular velocity of the bottom disk and QUICKLY switch the display to
the TOP position and measure the angular velocity of the top disk.
 Without waiting, pull the drop pin out. The top disk drops onto the bottom disk
and they stick together. Wait a full two seconds and measure angular velocity.
 Is the angular momentum conserved? Give some comments.
 Repeat the measurements with both disks rotating in the same direction.
 Present your results in a table like this:

Top disk Bottom disk Total L

reading  L reading  L
Initial
Final

19
 Experiment 3: Resonance Modes of a String

Preparatory questions
1. State Hooke’s law for harmonic motion?
2. What is meant by resonance of a string oscillation?
3. What is the difference between node and antinode?
4. Explain the condition for oscillation of a string of length L fixed at both ends
5. What are the factors affecting natural frequency of a string?
6. Write down the relationship between velocity of propagation of a wave along a
string having linear mass  and tension T
7. Explain why the lever must be horizontal to determine the tension of the string
from the hanging mass (hint: torque equilibrium)
8. Explain how does a pick-up coil (microphone) work
9. What is cross-talk?

Aim
In this experiment you investigate a more complex type of resonator, a string fixed at
two ends. This type of resonator is found, for example, in all stringed musical
instruments and also in the human body to produce the sound of your voice.

Introduction
Consider a string fixed at both ends, A and B. This could be a string on a guitar for
example. A tension T is applied to the string. Let  the linear density of the string. This
means that the mass of a portion of length l of the string is l. If the string is pulled
away from its equilibrium position as shown in figure 1, there is a restoring force on
each element l of the string. This force is proportional to the displacement y of the
element l. We have seen in the general introduction that a force proportional to the
displacement produces a harmonic motion. So, according to our definition, the
element l of the string is a harmonic oscillator.

y
(l)

F y
A B

Figure 1: The string fixed at both ends is a harmonic oscillator

20
We are interested in the whole string. The differential equation for the motion of the
string is quite complicate because the force is not uniform along the string (why?). We
approach the problem in a different way but we must keep in mind the following
important points:
 The string is a harmonic oscillator
 The string has a natural frequency that depends on the tension and the linear
mass; these are the analogue of k and m in the spring-mass system. As we shall
see, there are, in this case, several natural frequencies.
 There will be resonance between the string and an external driver when the string
is driven at a frequency equal to any one of it natural frequencies.
Theory
In the approach adopted here we consider waves propagating along the string. The
wave causes a periodic displacement. So the wave is the driver that forces the
oscillations of the string.
A simple sine wave travelling along a string under tension is described by the equation
y1  y0 sin( 2 ( x  vt )) [1]
y1 is the displacement of the element l at the position x along the string; v is the
propagation velocity;  is the wavelength and y0 is the amplitude. When the wave
reaches the fixed end of the string it is reflected and therefore there is a reflected
wave travelling in the opposite direction. The reflected wave can be described by the
equation:
y 2  y0 sin( 2 ( x  vt )) [2]
The resultant displacement of the element l at the position x along the string is
y  y1  y2  y0 sin( 2 ( x  vt ))  y0 sin( 2 ( x  vt )) [3]
Using the trigonometric identity:
 A  B  A  B
sin A  sin B  2 sin   cos 
 2   2 
This equation can be rearranged in the form:

[4]

Depends on x but Depends on time

not on time but not on x

21
This equation has some interesting characteristics. At a given time t, the shape of the
string is a sine wave with maximum amplitude:
 2vt 
2 y0 cos  [5]
  
Any given point x along the string executes simple harmonic motion, with amplitude:
 2x 
2 y0 sin   [6]
  
This is in agreement with what we stated in the introduction:

If a string is displaced from its equilibrium position, each element l

along the string will execute a harmonic motion.

We still need to find the natural frequency of these oscillations. The frequency of the
wave in equations 4 and 5 is the frequency of the driver ( f d ). We must find the
resonance condition between this driver and our string of length L. If we look at
equation 6 we can see that for some values of x the amplitude is always zero, these
points do not move.

The position of these points is given by the condition

2 x
 n n  0, 1, 2, ....

Or
n
x
2
These points are called nodes. In the same way one can see that at positions
(2n  1)
x 
4
the amplitude is a maximum. These points are called antinodes. If the string is free, not
fixed at the ends, any wavelength  is acceptable. But, if the string is fixed at both ends
the points A and B cannot move, their amplitude is always zero. These points must be
nodes. So, if the string is driven at a frequency f d the wavelength of the driven
oscillation must be such that the points A and B are nodes. This will happen when the
length L of the string is equal to an integral multiple of half wavelengths.

Ln  [7]
2
The speed v of propagation of a wave is related to the wavelength  by:
v  f [8]
where f is the natural frequency. By substituting equation 8 into equation 7 we
obtain

22
 v
f n [9]
2L
Figure 2 shows the vibration of the string when n is 1, 2 or 3. This type of waveform is
called a standing wave because there is no propagation of the waveform along the
string. We see that n is equal to the number of antinodes. The standing waves
obtained for the different values of n are called the modes of vibration of the string or
the harmonics.

A B n = 1; L = /2
Fundamental / first
. harmonic

n = 2; L = 
A B Second harmonic

n = 3; L = 3/2
A B Third harmonic

node node
antinode antinode antinode

Figure 2: The modes of vibration of a string fixed at two ends

Equation 9 gives the natural frequencies of the string. What is the meaning of this?
This means that if a string is excited at a frequency different from one of the natural
frequencies, the string does not respond. I.e. it does not vibrate hence it does not
produce any sounds. What we have here is resonance between an external driver (the
wave) and the string. When a musician hits the string of a guitar, his hand drives the
string with a wide range of frequencies all at the same time. Only the frequencies at
resonance with the string produce an oscillation with large amplitude that can be
heard. The sound you hear is a mixture of the allowed harmonics. The tone of the
sound depends on relative amplitudes of the harmonics. This is what makes the sound
of a guitar different from the sound of a violin for example.
In the mass-spring system and the LRC circuit, the natural frequency is related to the
physical properties of the oscillator. In the case of a string, the natural frequency can
also be expressed in terms of the physical properties of the string:

23
The speed v of propagation of a wave along a string with linear mass  and tension T
is:
T
v [10]

Substituting equation 10 into equation 9, and rearranging one finds the natural
frequencies of the string:
1 T n T n (T / L )
f n   [11]
2L  2 L 2
2 m
where m = L is the total mass of the string. Compare equation 11 with the equation
for the natural frequency of the spring-mass system. You can see that (T / L) is the
analogue of the spring constant k.
Apparatus
The instrument you are given to study the vibration of a string is called a sonometer. A
schematic diagram of the sonometer is shown in figure 3.

Adjustment screw Pick-up String

Bridge
Driver
A B

Figure 3: The sonometer

Identify all the parts of the instrument.

 The base support.
 The string. You have strings with different linear masses.
 Two bridges which give the fixed points A and B; you can move the bridges to
change the length L.
 The tensioning lever system with masses on a hook that can be placed in different
notches on the lever to vary the tension in the string.

string notches

Masses

Figure 4: The tensioning lever and the masses

24
 The pickup and the driver. These are very similar to the pickups (microphones) on
an electric guitar. The pickup has a small coil that detects the oscillations of the
string and the driver works in reverse, when an oscillating current is passed
through the driver it creates an oscillating magnetic field that drives the string.

Procedure

Figure 5: Experimental setup

 Connect the driver coil to the function generator and the detector coil to the
oscilloscope.
 Choose one of the given strings and place the brass string retainer into the slot
on the tensioning lever.

string retainer

crimped lug

 Loosen the string adjustment screw and place the crimped lug so that it is attached
to the other end of the string over the screw head. Tighten the string adjustment
screw until the tensioning lever is horizontal.
 Place the bridges in any locations you wish; the separation between the bridges
determines the length of the string L; (about 60 cm is a good choice).
 Position the driver and the detector coils on the base support. To avoid cross-talk
between the detector and the driver, keep the detector coil at least 10 cm from
the driver coil during measurements.

25
Initially, position the detector midway between the bridges; for some patterns you
may want to reposition it to improve the picked up signal. The driver and the pick-up
coils work best when positioned near an antinode of the wave pattern. Why?
 Hang a mass (approximately 1 kg) on the tensioning lever to produce the desired
tension then adjust the string-adjustment screw as needed so that the tensioning
lever is horizontal.

1 2 3 4 5 6 .....

Pivot

Mg

Figure 6: The tensioning system. In this case, T = 5Mg

The tensioning arm is designed so that when the lever is horizontal the tension in the
string is
T  n ' Mg
Where n’ is the number of the notch as shown in figure 6. If you hang a mass “M” on
notch “1” of the lever, the tension of the string is equal to Mg, where g is the
gravitational constant (9.8 m/s2). If you move the mass to notch “2” the tension equals
2Mg; if you move it to notch “3” the tension is 3 Mg, etc.
Part A: Characterization of the instrument
This is an important part of the experiment. You must do all the suggested
investigation and write your observations in your diary. Your observations will be
graded.
1. Investigating the detector
Take the detector from the base support and put it on the table. Connect the detector
to channel 1 of the oscilloscope. Increase the sensitivity of the channel to its
maximum. Set the triggering on channel 1. You should see a horizontal line across the
screen indicating that there is no signal coming from the detector. Tap with your finger
on the detector, speak close to the detector, move your hand close to the head of the
detector. Do you see on the oscilloscope any signal coming from the detector? Now
take a steel object, for example one of the spare strings or a screw driver and move it
close to the head of the detector. Do you see a signal? Make a conclusion from these
observations and write it in your diary.

26
2. Observing the vibrations
Place the detector back on the sonometer. Place it halfway between the two bridges;
make sure that the head of the detector is just under the string. Excite gently the string
with your finger, as if you were playing the guitar. Adjust the sensitivity and the time
base on the oscilloscope so that you can observe the waveform correctly on the
screen. Describe your observation. Is it a pure sine wave? Why not? Can you explain
why it may become a more pure sine wave after some time?
3. Direct measurement of the fundamental frequency
When you excite the string with your finger and observe it oscillating at its natural
frequency you are doing the same thing as when you pull the mass of the spring-mass
system, release it and observe the oscillation at the natural frequency. So, you can
measure directly from the oscilloscope the natural frequency of the fundamental
mode. Do it, though it is not very easy because the display may not be stable but you
can get a good approximation. It is useful to have an approximate value of the
fundamental frequency when you do the second part of this experiment.
Part B: Determination of velocity of propagation for different tensions of the string
Now that you are familiar with the instrument you will perform a series of experiments
to discover that the velocity of propagation of the wave is proportional to the square
root of the tension (equation 10). Set the frequency of the function generator to 20 Hz.
Increase slowly the frequency until you reach a resonant frequency (you already have
an idea of where to expect the resonance from your observations in part A). At
resonance you will find that the motion of the string and the amplitude of the sound
are maximum. The wave pattern shown on the oscilloscope should become a clean
sine wave. If you can’t see or hear the string, increase the amplitude of the function
generator output and try again.
Determine the lowest frequency at which resonance occurs. This is the first, or
fundamental, mode. Measure this frequency and record it in Table 1. Repeat the
measurement several times to assess your uncertainty.
Continue to increase the frequency to find successive harmonics (at least five or six).
Record in a table the resonance frequencies for each mode.

Length of the string: L =

T1 = T2 = T3 = T4 =
Mode Frequency Mode Frequency Mode Frequency Mode Frequency
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
Table 1: modes and frequency chart

27
Change the tension of the string by hanging the weight from a different notch. Adjust
the string adjustment knob so that the tensioning lever is horizontal. Repeat the
experiment for four different values of the tension.
For each value of the tension T, plot a graph of the resonant frequency f n versus the
number of the mode n. Plot all the lines on the same graph. The graph should be a
straight line passing through the origin (see equation 9).
v 
f n   n n [9]
 2L 
vn
The slope of each line is . The velocity of propagation is different for each value of
2L
the tension. Use least square fit method to find the slope of each line and then
calculate the velocity of propagation for each value of the tension.
Tabulate values of the tensions T and the corresponding velocities. Do not forget to
estimate the error in v and to write the correct units in the header of the table. You
can neglect the error in the value of mass and hence the error in T.

Tension T Velocity v +v

Table 2: Tension Vs Velocity chart

You can use a spreadsheet program such as Origin to plot a graph of v versus T.
The graph is not a straight line. So, assume that the functional relationship is of the
form
v  kT P [13]
where p and k are unknown constants. The object of your analysis is to find k and p.
Hints:
Take the logarithm of both sides of equation 13.

ln( v)  P ln(T )  ln( k )

Then, plot ln(v) against the independent variable ln(T ) . You should obtain a straight
line having a slope P, and intercept ln(k).
From your calculations determine the functional relationship of the speed of the wave
v to the tension T of the string. Compare your findings with equation (10).

28
 Experiment 4: Driven Damped Harmonic Oscillations

Preparatory questions
1. What is torque? How it is related to the spring constant and angular displacement?

2. Write down the differential equation for a simple harmonic motion, damped

Harmonic oscillation and a driven damped harmonic oscillation. Explain the terms.

3. Plot the graph of amplitude vs. time for an under damped harmonic oscillator.

Explain the nature of the graph.

4. What is meant by resonance of a driven oscillator?

5. What is meant by phase difference of a driven oscillator?

6. Explain Eddy current?

7. Learn how to read a Vernier calliper.

Aim
The aim is to determine the resonant frequency of the oscillator in three different
ways: a) by directly observing the damped oscillations of the disc b) using the torsional
spring constant and the disc moment of inertia and c) from the resonance curve of the
forced oscillations. Also the phase difference between varying driving frequencies and
the disc oscillations will be examined.

Introduction

This experiment is designed to understand the nature of a mechanical damped

harmonic oscillator driven with a periodic force. A detailed theory of the oscillator is
given in the theory part ‘Introduction to Simple Harmonic Motion’. The experimental
setup is interfaced with a computer program. The analyses of the data provide deep
insight into the phenomena of resonance.

29
Theory
The oscillating system in this experiment consists of a disc
pulley
connected to two springs (Figure 1). A string connecting the
two springs is wrapped around the disc so the disc oscillates
back and forth. This is like a torsion pendulum. The period of a
torsion pendulum without damping is given by:

I
T = 2π√ [1]
κ

where I is the rotational inertia of the disc and κ is the effective

torsional spring constant of the springs. The rotational inertia of
Figure 1: A disc of
the disc is found by measuring the disc mass (M) and the disk mass M and radius R
radius (R) is attached to two
springs by a pulley of
radius r.

For a disc, oscillating about the perpendicular axis through its center, the rotational
inertia is given by
1
I = MR2 [2]
2

The torsional spring constant is determined by applying a known torque (τ = rF) to the
disc and measuring the resulting angle (θ) through which the disc turns. Then the
spring constant is given by


k  [3]

If a damped oscillator is displaced from equilibrium and allowed to oscillate and damp
out, the equation of motion is

d2 θ b dθ κ
+ ( ) + ( )θ = 0 [4]
dt2 I dt I

The solution to this equation is a damped sine wave:

 b 
  t
  0e  2I 
sin  t    [5]

where the angular frequency is given by

30
 k b2
  [6]
I 4I 2
Forced Oscillation

When the damped oscillator is driven with a sinusoidal torque, the differential
equation describing its motion is

d2 θ dθ
I +b + κθ = τo cos(ωt) [7]
dt2 dt

The solution to this equation is:

τo ⁄I
θ= cos(ωt − φ) [8a]
2
√(ω2 −ω2o ) +(b⁄I)2 ω2

θ = θo cos(ωt − φ) [8b]

The amplitude of the oscillation is:

τo ⁄I
θo = [9]
2
√(ω2 −ω2o ) +(b⁄I)2 ω2

The phase difference is:

ωb/I
φ = tan−1 ( ) [10]
ω2o −ω2

φ is the phase difference between the driving torque and the resultant motion.
The resonant frequency ωo is given by

ωo = √κ⁄I [11]

When the driving frequency is equal to the resonant frequency, the amplitude is
maximum. Setting ω = ωo in Equation (9),

τo
θo = √I⁄κ [12]
b

31
Phase difference
The phase difference φ between a
reference signal (driver) and the
observed signal (disc) (see figure right)
is defined as:

2𝜋
𝜑= ∆𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝑇

Examine the dependence of the phase difference, φ, on the driving frequency:

(i) When ω → 0
As the driving frequency (ω) approaches zero, φ = tan−1 (0) → 0 . The
resulting motion is in phase with the driving torque. I.e. the phase difference is
0
(ii) At resonance, ω = ωo, which results in
τo 2ωo b/I π
θ= √I⁄κ cos(ωo t − φ) and φ = tan−1 ( ) = tan−1 (∞) =
b ω2o −ω2o 2

π
I.e. the phase difference is
2

(iii) When ω → ∞

2ωb/I
As the driving frequency (ω) goes to infinity, φ = lim [tan−1 (ω2 −ω2 )] = π .
ω→∞ o

The resulting motion is 180o out of phase with the driving torque. I.e. phase difference
is 

Apparatus
The oscillator consists of an aluminum disc with a pulley that has a string wrapped
around it and attached to two springs, figure 2. The angular positions and velocities of
the disc and the driver are recorded as a function of time using two Rotary Motion
Sensors. A different amount of magnetic damping is provided by moving the magnet
closer to the aluminum disc.

32
Figure 2: a) Full image of the oscillator. The components are marked. b) Expanded view of the
disc, its motion sensor, pulley and the magnet. c) Driver unit and its motion sensor is shown.

Your instructor will introduce you the setup. You don’t have to do the following 9
steps. Read it to understand the setup.

1. Mount the driver on a rod base as shown in Figure 2. Slide the first Rotary Motion
Sensor onto the same rod as the driver.

2. On the driver, rotate the driver arm until it is vertically downward. Attach a string to
the driver arm and thread the string through the string guide at the top end of the
driver. Wrap the string completely around the Rotary Motion Sensor large pulley. Tie
one end of one of the springs to the end of this string. Tie the end of the spring close
to the Rotary Motion Sensor.

3. Use two vertical rods connected by a cross rod at the top for greater stability.
Mount the second Rotary Motion Sensor on the cross rod.

4. Tie a short section of string (a few centimeters) to the leveling screw on the base.
33
Tie one end of the second spring to this string.

5. Cut a string to a length of about 1.5 m. Wrap the string around the large pulley of
the second Rotary Motion Sensor twice. Attach the disc to the Rotary Motion Sensor
with the screw.

6. To complete the setup of the springs, thread each end of the string from the pulley
through the ends of the springs and tie them off with about equal tension is each side:
The disc should be able to rotate 180 degrees to either side without the springs hitting
the Rotary Motion Sensor pulley.

7. Attach the magnetic drag accessory to the side of the Rotary Motion Sensor. Adjust
the screw that has the magnet so the magnet is about 1.0 cm from the disc.

8. In this experiment, a ramped voltage is applied to the driver using the signal
generator on the 750 interface, figure 3a. However, since the driver motor stalls out at
low voltages and it is desired to get the maximum number of data points possible, it is
necessary to have an offset voltage so the minimum voltage is about 1 V, figure 3b.
This offset voltage is supplied by the DC power supply. Plug the driver into the DC
power supply and attach the digital voltmeter across the power supply.

Figure 3: a) ScienceWorkshop 750 interface. b) Driver power supply providing 1 Volt.

9. Plug the disk Rotary Motion Sensor into Channels 3 and 4 on the ScienceWorkshop
750 interface with the yellow plug in Channel 3. Plug the driver Rotary Motion Sensor
into Channels 1 and 2with the yellow plug in Channel 1. Plug the Power Amplifier into
Channel A, see figure 3a.

Procedure
1. Switch on the driver and power supply shown in figure 3a.
2. Go to the folder \Libraries\Documents\Mechanical Oscillations\create a new
folder with your ID#
3. Copy the file “Driven Harmonic.ds” from \Libraries\Documents\Mechanical
Oscillations\Program and paste into your folder created in step 2.

34
 4. Open “DataStudio.ds” from your folder
5. There will be five different windows as shown in figure 4. Study each window.
Do not change the settings. Familiarize the DataStudio program with the help
of the instructor.

Figure 4: DataStudio interface program ‘Driven Harmonics’. Measurements are display on

‘Phase’ and ‘Resonance’ windows.

1. Measurements of Resonant frequency.

The aim is to create a graph of angular speed of the disc vs. time.
Note: Be very careful not to drop masses onto the motion sensor. Secure the spring
holder firmly to the vibrator stem. If the vibrations become large, they might shake
a mass loose. Do not leave masses unattended on the spring; set them aside
immediately when you stop taking measurements for a while.
I. Keep the magnet far away from the disc, see figure 2b.
II. Leave the DC power supply shown in figure 3b turned off.
III. Click the signal generator off in DataStudio
IV. Click on START, displace the disc (manually by your hand), and let it oscillate. Click
on STOP.
V. Measure the period using the smart cursor on the disc oscillation graph (period is
difference of time between selected peaks over number of peaks).

35
 VI. To delete data: click ‘Experiment’ on the tool bar, ‘Delete last Data Run’ if you
want to delete the previous measurement or ‘Delete All Data Runs’ if you want to
delete all previous measurements.
VII. To Export data: click ‘Display’ on the tool bar, ‘Export Data’.
VIII. Repeat data collection five times, and then calculate the average frequency. Take
care of error!
IX. You need to export only one data for your report.
X. Import the data into ‘ORIGIN’ and plot the graph of angular speed of the disc vs.
time.

Trial # Period T Frequency

1
.
.
5
Table 1: Resonant frequency of the damped oscillator

2. Determine the Spring Constant:

1. Click the START button. Hang 10 g mass on the spring, see Figure 5a. Wait for the
oscillations of the disc to be completely damped. Now the disc is turned to an
angle 1. Add another 10 g mass on the spring. Now the total mass is 20 g and the
resulting turn angle 2. Repeat the above step for masses shown in table2. At the
end click STOP button and note down the resulting angles through which the disc
rotates, as shown in figure 5b.
a) b)

Figure 5: a) Mass hanged on the spring. b) Graph of angular displacement of the disc for
different masses hanged on the spring.

2. Since the weight of the hanging mass is applied on the smaller pulley, measure the
radius of the inner pulley and calculate the torque caused by each weight. Plot a
graph of torque versus angle (in rad) and use a linear fit to find the torsional spring
constant. (You can use Origin to draw the graphs). Take care of error!

36
 Mass Angle Angle torque
(g) (deg.) (rad) (Nm)
10
20
40
60
80

Table 2: angle and torque measured for different masses

3. Determine the Rotational Inertia (I): Measure the mass and radius of a similar disc.
Calculate the rotational inertia of the disk using equation (2).
4. Resonance Curves: Create a graph of “Velocity Amp” vs. “driving frequency” doing
following steps:
a) Turn on the DC power supply and set the voltage on 1 V. Set Signal Generator in
‘Auto’ mode, see figure below. Data collection will take 15 minutes.

b) Set the magnet spacing to about 6 mm (low damping case) at the back side of
aluminum disc.
c) Click ‘Start’. Now you can see disc/driver amplitude vs. time traces on the ‘phase’
window and amplitude of the disc motion vs. driver frequency graph on the
‘resonance’ window.
d) Export ‘Driver’ and ‘Disc’ traces separately from the ‘Phase’ window.
e) Export ‘resonance curve’ from the ‘Resonance’ window.
f) Adjust the magnet position to about 2 mm (high damping) from the disc and repeat
the data collection.
g) Repeat step (e) for medium and high damping resonance curves.
h) You can import all these data to ‘ORIGIN’ and plot/analyze for the report.

Analysis

1. Calculate the resonant frequency of the oscillator and its error from table 1.
2. Using the torsional spring constant and the disc rotational inertia, calculate the
theoretical period and the resonant frequency of the oscillator (ignoring friction).
3. Examine the resonance curves for different amounts of damping. How does the

37
 damping affect the width, amplitude and resonant frequency of the curve?
4. Is the resonant frequency for the least amount damping the same as the
theoretical frequency? Calculate the percentage difference.
5. Why is the resonance curve asymmetrical about the resonant frequency?
6. Create a graph of disc and driver angular displacement vs. time (as shown in the
‘phase difference’ section). Measure the phase difference between these
oscillations at high frequency (at the beginning of the time), resonance frequency
(at the time when the disk oscillation is largest), and at low frequency (at the end
of the time). Do these phase differences agree with the theory?

38
 Experiment 5: Collision in Two Dimensions

Preparatory questions
1. State law of conservation of linear momentum
2. What is the difference between elastic, inelastic and completely inelastic collisions?
3. What is the relationship between impulse of a force and momentum?
4. Why magnetic pucks are used for the elastic collision experiment?
5. Why potential energy term is not included in the conservation of energy equation?
6. How does a spark timer work?

Aim
In this experiment you will investigate the conservation of momentum and kinetic
energy for an elastic collision and an inelastic collision experiment.

Introduction
Conservation of momentum is a very useful tool for studying collisions. In a collision,
momentum is conserved, but mechanical energy may not be conserved. During
collisions, colliding objects are deformed. During this deformation some heat may be
generated. In that case some mechanical energy is lost in the form of heat.

Theory
Consider a collision between two objects of mass m1 and m2 and initial velocity v1 and
v2 respectively. After the collision, the velocities are v'1 and v'2, respectively. For all
collisions (whether elastic or inelastic) momentum is conserved. The conservation of
linear momentum is expressed mathematically as:
 
p initial  p final
or
   
m1v1  m2 v 2  m1v'1 m2 v' 2 (vector addition!)

This vector equation is equivalent to two relations for the x- and y- components.

m1v'1

m1v1

m2v2
m2v'2 x

39
 m1vx1  m2vx 2  m1v'x1 m2v'x 2
m1v y1  m 2 v y 2  m1v'y1  m 2 v'y 2
If the collision is elastic, then the total energy is conserved too. Since there is no
change in the potential energy, we have:
1 1 1 1
m1 v12  m 2 v 22  m1 v'12  m 2 v' 22
2 2 2 2
Apparatus
The air Table: For your investigation you would like to have a frictionless system. The
best approximation to a frictionless system is an air table. The air table is essentially a
glass plate along which pucks can move freely. In order to reduce the friction between
the pucks (masses) and the table, there is an air supply that pushes air through the
hoses to the puck and provides a thin air cushion on which the puck floats without
friction. You have to bear in your mind that still there is some friction in the system
that may affect your results.
The spark timer: The trajectory of the puck is recorded on a plain paper using a spark
timer and carbon paper. When in operation, the spark timer generates a periodic high-
voltage pulse that leaves a black dot on the side of the paper facing the carbon paper.
A selector on the spark timer lets you to select the time interval between two
successive sparks. When the switch is on, the spark timer is ready for use; to make it
start you have to press the footswitch.

CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE METAL PARTS

OF THE AIR TABLE WHILE THE SPARK TIMER IS IN
OPERATION.

Procedure
The experiment has two parts. First you study the elastic collision and then the
inelastic collision.
Part 1
Elastic collision: Collision of two magnetic pucks
 Choose the magnetic pucks for this part. Attach them to the hoses and measure
their masses.
 Without using the spark timer, practice the launching technique: Turn on the air
supply. Hold one puck in each hand. Launch them towards the centre of the air
table diagonally in such a way to get a clean collision (do not give large speeds: the
pucks should deflect without striking each other; see Figure 1 left).
 Turn on the spark timer and select a spark rate of 40 milliseconds (why 40 ms?)
 Press the footswitch just before the pucks are ready for launch. After the collision,
release the footswitch before the pucks hit the border.

40
 Figure 1: The trajectories of the pucks in the elastic (left) and inelastic (right) collision.

 Remove the paper and proceed with the data analysis.

Data Analysis
1) Draw an x-y coordinate system on the paper. Use the x-axis as your reference line.

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the trajectory of pucks obtained in the experiment.

Method to analyse the data is also shown.

41
2) Choose two successive points for each puck before and after collision (these points
should be well outside the region of collision). Measure the distance between the
points. You can then calculate the velocity the pucks before and after of collision,
using the spark time.
D
v
t
where t is the time interval between two consecutive sparks, i.e. the spark time
used in your experiment.
3) Measure the angle ϴ of v from the x- axis
4) Find components of v along x and y directions for both pucks before and after the
collision
5) Calculate corresponding momentum P and its components along x and y directions
6) Calculate the total kinetic energy before (KE) and after (KE’) the collision. Indicate
what type of collision (elastic or inelastic) has been observed.
1 1 1 1
m1 v12  m 2 v 22  m1 v'12  m 2 v' 22
2 2 2 2
7) Record all your calculations in Table 1:

Puck v1 vx1 vy1 v1’ v’x1 v’y1 P1 Px1 Py1 P’1 P’x1 P’y1 KE1 KE’1
1
Puck v2 vx2 vy2 v2’ v’x2 v’y2 P2 Px2 Py2 P’2 P’x2 P’y2 KE2 KE’2
2

Table 1: Velocities, Momenta and Kinetic energy chart

8) Calculate the components of the total linear momentum before and after collision
and show that
m1vx1  m2vx 2  m1v'x1 m2v'x 2
m1v y1  m 2 v y 2  m1v'y1  m 2 v'y 2
Draw a conclusion.
9) Estimate the error on the components of the momentum and energy.
Do you find that within your experimental uncertainty the momentum and the
energy are conserved? If not, what are the sources of error in the experimental
setup? How can friction result in an apparent loss of momentum? Could there have
been any real loss of momentum in the experiment?
10) Error Analysis: The results for the calculations of the components of the velocities,
the momentum and the kinetic energies must be given with appropriate
uncertainties. Use the rules for combining errors to estimate the accuracy of your
results.
The following points will help you.
a) The errors on the measurement of the time and the mass are negligible.
42
 So Δm = 0 and Δt = 0
b) Estimate the errors in distances as you read on the graph. Can you reduce the
uncertainty by a wider interval between two consecutive points? What
problems do you have if you take points too far apart?
c) Calculate the error in the velocities.
d) Using the error in velocities, calculate the error in momenta
Discuss the following points:
1) In your opinion can you conclude that the laws of conservation are verified
2) What are the assumptions made in the calculations?
3) Is the friction really negligible?
4) Is the collision really elastic?
5) What is the effect on your calculation if the pucks start to rotate after the collision?

Part 2
Inelastic collision: Collision of two non-magnetic pucks
Repeat previous experiment with the magnetic pucks. Try to shoot of the puck towards
each other so that very little sound is heard. Why are we trying not to produce sound?
Compare the momentum and kinetic energy of the pucks before and after collision.
Record your data in table 2.

Puck v1 vx1 vy1 v1’ v’x1 v’y1 P1 Px1 Py1 P’1 P’x1 P’y1 KE1 KE’1
1
Puck v2 vx2 vy2 v2’ v’x2 v’y2 P2 Px2 Py2 P’2 P’x2 P’y2 KE2 KE’2
2
Table 2: Velocities, Momenta and Kinetic energy chart

Follow the data analysis, error analysis and discussion similar to part 1. Write down
your conclusions.

43
 Experiment 6: Ratio of Specific Heats of a Gas

Preparatory questions

1. Define specific heat.

2. What is the theoretical ratio of specific heats of a diatomic gas? Why?
3. What is the theoretical ratio of specific heats of a monatomic gas? Why?
4. Would the slope of the graph for Helium be greater or less than the slope for air?
5. Why can we assume air is diatomic? What are the main components of air?

Aim
The aim of this experiment is to estimate the ratio of specific heats of air.

Introduction
In this experiment Ruchhardt's Method is followed to estimate the ratio of specific
heats of air. In Ruchhardt's Method, a cylinder of gas is compressed adiabatically by
plucking the piston. The piston will then oscillate about the equilibrium position.
Gamma, the ratio of specific heat, can be determined by measuring the period of
oscillation.

Theory
If the piston is displaced downwards a distance x, there will be a restoring force which
forces the piston back toward the equilibrium position. Just like a mass on a spring, the
piston will oscillate. The piston acts as the mass and the air acts as the spring.
Q1. Write the period of oscillation of a mass on a spring (or for the piston and air)?
To determine the spring constant, k, for air, calculate the force when the piston is
displaced by a distance x. When the piston is displaced downward a distance x, the
volume decreases by a very small amount compared to the total volume: dV = xA
where A is the cross-sectional area of the piston.
The resulting force on the piston is given by F = (dP)A where dP is the small change in
pressure. To find a relationship between dP and dV, we assume that if the oscillations
are small and rapid, no heat is gained or lost by the gas. Thus the process is adiabatic
and

PV=constant [1]

where

CP
   Ratio of Molar Specific Heats [2]
CV

44
For a diatomic gas, CV = 5/2 R and CP = 7/2 R, so  = 7/5.

Taking a derivative of Equation [1] gives

PV  1dV  V  dP  0 [3]

PV  1
Solving for dP, dP   dV [4]
V

PxA
Since dV = xA, dP   [5]
V
Plugging into F = (dP)A gives

 PA2 
F    x [6]
 V 

Comparing this to F = -kx shows that

 PA2 
k    [7]
 V 

Substituting into the period equation for k gives

mV
T  2 [8]
PA2

A2 PT 2
Solving for the volume gives V  . The total volume is A(h+ho), where h is the
4 2 m
height measured on the labelled scale and ho is the unknown height below zero on the
label. Substituting in for the volume and solving for the height of the piston, h, gives

 AP 
h   2 T 2  ho [9]
 4 m 

Thus, if the piston height is plotted versus the square of the period, the resulting graph
 AP 
will be a straight line with slope   2  and y-intercept ho.
 4 m 
Therefore the ratio of specific heats is given by
4 2 m( slope )
  [10]
AP
where m = mass of piston, A = cross-sectional area of piston, P = atmospheric pressure,

45
and the slope is from the graph of h vs. T2.

Experimental procedure

Figure 1: Experimental setup.

Figure 2: Heat Engine/Gas Laws

Apparatus.

Identify various parts of the equipment which are used in this experiment.

The apparatus include:

1 Heat Engine/Gas Law Apparatus TD-8572

1 Large Rod Stand ME-8735
1 45 cm Long Steel Rod ME-8736
1 Low Pressure Sensor CI-6534A
1 ScienceWorkshop 500 or 750 Interface CI-6400
1 DataStudio Software CI-6870

Piston diameter: 32.5 ± 0.1 mm

Mass of piston and platform: 35.0 ± 0.6 g

Measurement of Ratio of Specific Heats of Air:

1. Slide the Heat Engine/Gas Laws Apparatus Figure 2, onto the rod stand as shown in
Figure 1.
2. Attach a Low Pressure Sensor to one of the ports on the Heat Engine Apparatus.
Unclamp both of the tube clamps at the bottom of the apparatus.
3. Raise the piston to the 9-cm mark and clamp it at this position with the side thumb
screw at the top of the cylinder. Close the tube clamp on the open port. Loosen
the side thumb screw and now the piston will stay at 9 cm. (see Figure 2)

46
4. Run the DataStudio program called "Ratio of Specific Heats". => Go to Documents
and create a folder with your ID#,
5. Then copy a file name “Ratio of Specific Heats” from Documents to your folder
(this is important otherwise you will lose your work).
6. Click on DataStudio program, choose to open Activity “Ratio of Specific Heats”, see
figure 3.

Figure 3: DataStudio program

7. Click on Start in the DataStudio program and by using the tip of your finger;
pluck the top of the piston. Click Stop on the computer.
8. By using the Smart Cursor, determine the period of the oscillation from the
pressure versus time graph. Expand the area of the graph that shows the
oscillation. [Measure the period by measuring the time for several peaks and
dividing by the number of peaks]. Repeat this step in order to find the average
period and the error in the average period.
9. Lower the piston to 8 cm and repeat the procedure. Then continue to lower
the piston in steps of 1 cm, repeating the procedure at each piston position
down to 1 cm.
10. Find the mass (m) of the piston (given on the apparatus label) and the cross-
sectional area (A) of the piston (the piston diameter is given on the apparatus
label). Unless a barometer is available, assume the atmospheric pressure is
1.01 x 105 Pa.
11. Using the slope of the resulting graph of h vs. T 2, calculate  for air and
compare to the ideal value.

47
Experiment 7: Introduction to Thermal Radiation and Inverse
Square Law for Radiation

Thermal Radiation (part 1):

Aim
To understand the physics of thermal radiation via investigating the thermal radiation
and thermal absorption of various surface and materials.

Introduction
An object can exchange energy as heat with its environment via radiation. Energy
transferred in this way is called Thermal Radiation. When you stand in front of a big
fire, you are warmed by absorbing thermal radiation from the fire; that is, your
thermal energy increases as the fire’s thermal energy decreases. No medium is
required for heat transfer via radiation; the radiation can travel through vacuum from.
Equipment
1. Radiation Sensor
The Radiation Sensor measures the
relative intensities of incident
thermal radiation. It produces a
voltage proportional to the intensity
of radiation. A spring-clip shutter is
opened and closed by sliding the
shutter ring forward or back. During
experiments, the shutter should be
closed when measurements are not
actively being taken. The two posts
extending from the front end of the
Sensor protect the sensor and also Figure1: Radiation Sensor
provide a reference for positioning
Note:
the sensor a repeatable distance
Always shield the Radiation Sensor from the
from a radiation source.
hot object except for the few seconds it takes
to actually make the measurement.

2. Thermal Radiation Cube

The Radiation Cube provides four different radiating surfaces that can be heated
from room temperature to approximately 120C. The cube is heated by a 100-watt
light bulb.
1. Just plug in the power cord

48
 2. Flip the toggle switch to “ON”,
3. Then turn the knob clockwise to vary the power.
4. Measure the cube temperature by plugging your ohmmeter into the
banana plug connectors labeled THERMISTOR. The thermistor is embedded
in one corner of the cube.
5. Measure the resistance, and then use the table which is printed on the base
of the radiation Cube to covert the resistance reading into a temperature
measurement.

Figure2: Radiation Cube

3. Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp
The Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp is a high temperature source of thermal radiation.
When properly oriented, the filament of the Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp provides a
good approximation to a point source of thermal radiation. The filament
temperature is determined by carefully measuring the voltage and current into
the lamp. The voltage divided by the current gives the resistance of the
filament.

4. Digital Multimeter
5. Window Glass
6. Power Supply (12 VDC; 3A)
7. Meter stick

Procedure
There are three parts for this experiment
Part 1: Radiation Rates from different surfaces
1) Connect the ohmmeter and millivoltmeter as shown in figure 3.
2) Turn on the Thermal Radiation Cube and set the power switch to “HIGH”. Keep an
eye on the ohmmeter reading. When it gets to about 40 kΩ, (read from the scale
on the side of the cube), reset the power switch to 5.
49
3) It will take a while until the Thermal Radiation Cube reaches the thermal
equilibrium. Meanwhile, you can use the Radiation Sensor to examine the relative
magnitudes of the radiation emitted from various objects around the room. Make
a table summarizing your observations. Make measurements that will help you
answer the questions listed at the end of this part.

After this you can leave this experiment

aside and go to Part 2 (Inverse square
Law for radiation). Once you finish part
3 you can come back and finish part 1
by proceeding from step 4 onwards.

Figure 3: Equipment Setup for Thermal Radiation

4) When the cube reaches thermal equilibrium (the ohmmeter reading will fluctuate
around relatively fixed value) use the Radiation Sensor to measure the radiation
emitted from each of the four surfaces of the cube. Place the Sensor so that the
posts on its end are in the contact with the cube surface (this ensures that the
distance of the measurement is the same for all surfaces). Record your
measurements in the appropriate tables as shown below.
5) Measure and record the resistance of the thermistor. Use the table on the base of
the cube to determine the corresponding temperature.
6) Increase the power switch setting, first to 6.5, then to 8, then to “HIGH”. At each
setting, wait for the cube to reach thermal equilibrium, and then repeat the
measurements of step 1 and record your results in the appropriate tables.

Table1: Radiation Rates from different surfaces.

50
Questions
1. List the surfaces of the radiation Cube in order of the amount of radiation emitted.
Is the order independent of temperature?
2. It is a general rule the good absorbers of radiation are also good emitters. Are your
measurements consistent with this rule? Explain.
3. Do different objects, at approximately the same temperature, emit different
amounts of radiation?
4. Can you find materials in the laboratory that block thermal radiation? Can you find
materials that don’t block thermal radiation e.g. clothes?
Part 2: Absorption and Transmission of Thermal Radiation.
 Place the Sensor approximately 5 cm from the black surface of the Radiation Cube
and record the reading. Place a piece of window glass between the Sensor and the
radiation source. Does window glass effectively block thermal radiation?
 Remove the lid from the Radiation Cube and repeat the measurements of the
above step, but using the bare bulb instead of the black surface. Repeat with other
material.
Question
1. What do your results suggest about the phenomenon of heat loss through
windows?
2. What do your results suggest about the Greenhouse Effect?
3. How is Earth a greenhouse?

Part 3: Inverse Square Law for Radiation

Aim
To measure the thermal radiation from a point like source and to verify the Inverse
Square Law.
Introduction
The intensity of electromagnetic wave radiating from a point-source is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance from the source. An object twice as far
away, receives only ¼ the energy. The irradiance (power per unit area) of a hot object
in the direction of propagation varies inversely as the square of the distance from the
source, assuming there are no losses caused by absorption or scattering. For example
the Sun provides 9140 watts per square meter at the distance of Mercury (0.387AU);
but only 1370 watts per square meter at the distance of Earth (1AU). A three-fold
increase in distance results in a nine-fold decrease in power.
Procedure
1) Set up the equipment as shown in figure 4.
2) Fasten a meter stick to the table. You may use sticky tapes.
3) Place the Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp at one end of the meter stick as shown. The zero
point of the meter stick should align with the center of the lamp filament.

51
4) Adjust the height of the Radiation Sensor so it is the same as the filament of the
Stefan-Boltzmann lamp.

Figure4: Equipment Setup for Inverse Square Law

5) Align the lamp and sensor so that, as you X( cm) Ambient Radiation
slide the sensor along the meter stick, the Level (mV)
10
axis of the lamp aligns as closely as possible
20
with the axis of the sensor.
30
6) Connect the sensor to the millivoltmeter 40
7) Connect the lamp to the power supply as 50
indicated in the figure. 60
8) With the lamp OFF, slide the sensor along 70
the meter stick. Record the reading of the 80
millivoltmeter at 10 cm intervals. Record 90
100
your values in a table2. Average these
Average Ambient Radiation Level:
values to determine the ambient level of
thermal radiation. You will need to
Table2: Ambient Radiation Level:
subtract this average value from your
measurements with the lamp “ON”, in
order to determine the contribution from
the lamp alone.
9) Turn the power supply on to illuminate the lamp. Set the voltage to approximately
10 V. Do not Exceed 13 V.
10) Adjust the distance between the Senor and the lamp to each of the settings listed
in Table 3. At each setting, record the reading on the millivoltmeter.
Important:
Make each reading quickly. Between readings move the Sensor away from the lamp, or
place the reflective heat shield between the lamp and the Sensor, so that the
temperature of the Sensor stays relatively constant.

52
Table3: Radiation Level versus Distance:

X (cm) Radiation (mV) 1/X2 (cm-2) Rad. – Ambient (mV)

2.5
3.0
.
.
5.0
6.0
7.0
.
.
10.0
12.0
14.0
.
.
20.0
25.0
30.0
.
.
.
100

Calculation
1) For each of X, calculate 1/X2. Enter the results in the table 3. (take care of error)
2) Subtract the Average Ambient Radiation Level from each of your Radiation
measurements in the table. Enter your results in the table 3.
3) Make a graph of Radiation Level versus Distance from Source, using the columns 1
and 4 from the table 3. Let the radiation level be the dependent (Y) axis.
4) If your graph is not linear, make a graph of the radiation level versus 1/X 2, using the
columns 3 and 4 from the table 3.
Questions
1. Which of the two graphs is more linear? Is it linear over the entire range of
measurements?
2. What does the square distance law state? And does your data support this
assertion?

53
Experiment 8: Stefan-Boltzmann Law at High and Low Temperature

Preparatory questions

1) What is a ‘black-body’?
2) What is the characteristic of Black-body radiation?
3) What is the characteristic of a ‘grey’ body as compared to a black body?
4) Is the radiation emitted by a grey body lower or higher than that of a black body?
Why?
5) How does the ‘colour’ or the spectrum of black-body radiation change with
temperature?

Aim
The aim of this experiment is to study Stefan-Boltzmann law at high temperature and
low temperature

Introduction
The Stefan-Boltzmann law relates Q, the power per unit area radiated by an object, to
T, the absolute temperature of the object. The equation is:
Q  T 4
;   5.6703 108W / m 2 / K 4
In this experiment, you will make relative measurements of the power per unit area
emitted from a hot object (Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp) and a relatively cooler object
(Thermal Radiation Cube). From the data you will be able to test whether the radiated
power is proportional to the fourth power of the temperature.

Experimental procedure
Following apparatus are used for the experiment;
1. Radiation Sensor.
2. Thermal Radiation Cube.
3. Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp.
4. Digital Multimeter.
5. Power Supply (12 VDC; 3A).
Part 1: Stefan-Boltzmann law at high temperature
The Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp is a high temperature source of thermal radiation. When
properly oriented, the filament of the Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp provides a good
approximation to a point source of thermal radiation. The filament temperature is
determined by carefully measuring the voltage and current into the lamp. The voltage
divided by the current gives the resistance (R) of the filament.
For large temperature differences you need to accurately measure the resistance (R ref
= RRT) of the tungsten filament at room temperature about (about 300K). Accuracy is
important here. A small error in RRT will result in a large error in your result for the
filament temperature.

54
Procedure
Before turning on the lamp
1) Note down TRT, the room temperature in degrees K (K=°C + 273)
2) Measure RRT, the resistance of the filament of the Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp at room
temperature, Record your data.
3) Set up the equipment as shown in Figure 1.
 The voltmeter should be connected to the binding posts of the Stefan-
Boltzmann Lamp.
 The sensor should be at the same height as the filament, with the front
face of the Sensor approximately 6 cm away from the filament. The entrance
angle of the Sensor should include no close objects other than the lamp.

Figure1: Equipment Setup for Stefan-Boltzmann Law at high temperature

4) Turn on the power supply. Set the voltage, V, to each of the settings listed in table
1. Do not EXCEED 13 V.
5) At each voltage setting record current, (the ammeter reading) and Radiation, the
reading on the millivoltmeter.
Make each Sensor reading quickly to avoid heating the Sensor. Shield the sensor
between readings with the insulating foam, with the silvered surface facing the
lamp, so that the temperature of the Sensor stays relatively constant.
Data and Calculations
1) Calculate R, the resistance of the filament at each of the voltages settings used
(R=V/I). Enter your results in the table 1.
R
2) Divide R by RRT to obtain the relative resistance   .
R RT
3) Using your measured value for the relative resistance, β of the filament at
temperature T, Use the Table in the Appendix or the associated graph, to
determine the temperature of the filament.

55
(If value β is in between the two values given in the table or graph then use the
 T T 
equation given below to find the Temperature T  T1   2 1   1 
  2  1 
Where β 1 and β 2 are the values given in the table/graph, just below and above the
measured value of β and T1, T2 are the corresponding temperatures).
TRT (room temperature) =
RRT (filament resistance at TRT) =
Table1: Data for Stefan-Boltzmann Law at high temperature

Data Calculations
V (Volts) I (Amps) Rad (mV) R ()  T (K) T 4 ( K 4)
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
10.00
11.00
12.00

4) Calculate T4 for each value of T and enter your results in the table.
5) Graph Radiation versus T4.
Q1. What is the relationship between Radiation and T? Does this relationship hold over
the entire range of measurements?
Q2. The Stefan-Boltzmann law is perfectly true only for ideal, black body radiation. A
black body is any object that absorbs all the radiation that strikes it. Is the filament
of the lamp a true black body?
Q3. What sources of thermal radiation, other than the lamp filament, might have
influenced your measurements? What effect would you expect these sources to
have on your results?
Part 2: Stefan-Boltzmann law at low temperature
In part 1, you investigated the Stefan-Boltzmann Law (Q=T4) for the high
temperatures attained by an incandescent filament. At those high temperatures
(approximately 1000 to 3000 K), the ambient temperature is small enough that it can
be neglected in the analysis. In this experiment you will investigate the Stefan-
Boltzmann relations at much lower temperatures using the Thermal Radiation Cube. At
these lower temperatures, the ambient temperature cannot be ignored.

56
 If the detector in the radiation sensor operates at absolute zero temperature, it
would produce voltage directly proportional to the intensity of the radiation that
strikes it. However, the detector is not at absolute zero temperature so it is also
radiating thermal energy. According to the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, it radiates at a rate,
Qdet=Tdet4. The voltage produced by the sensor is proportional to the radiation
striking the detector minus the radiation leaving it. Mathematically, the sensor voltage
is proportional to Qnet = Q - Qdet = (T4-Tdet4). As long as you are careful to shield the
Radiation Sensor from the Radiation Cube when measurements are not being taken,
Tdet will be very close to room temperature (TRT).

Procedure
1) Set up the equipment as shown in figure 2. The Radiation Sensor should be pointed
directly at the center of one of the better radiating surfaces of the cube (the black
or white surface). The face of the sensor should be parallel with the surface of the
cube and about 3 to 4 cm away.

Figure2: Equipment setup for Stefan-Boltzmann Law at low temperature

2) With the Thermal Radiation cube off, measure RRT, the resistance of the
thermistor. Record the result.
3) Shield the sensor from the cube using the reflecting heat shield, with the reflective
side facing the cube.
4) Turn on the radiation cube and set to “HIGH”.
5) When the thermistor resistance indicates that the temperature is about 10C
above room temperature, turn the power down
This is to make sure that temperature is slowly changing and will be almost stable
while you take the readings of Resistance and Radiation at that temperature.
6) Read and record R, the ohmmeter reading, and Radiation the millivoltmeter
reading.
Make each reading quickly, removing the heat shield only as long as it takes to make
the measurement. Take care that the position of the sensor with respect to the cube is
the same for all measurements.

57
7) Replace the heat shields and turn the cube power to ”HIGH”. When the
temperature has raised an additional 4 – 8C from your previous temperature and
repeat the measurements. Repeat this procedure at about 4 - 8C interval until the
maximum temperature of the cube is reached.

At room temperature: RRT = 

TRT = K

Table2: Data for Stefan-Boltzmann Law at low temperature.

Data Calculation
R/ Rad / mV T / C T/K T 4 / K4 T4 – TRT4 / K4

Data and Calculation

1) Using the table on the base of the Thermal Radiation Cube, determine T, the
temperature in degrees centigrade corresponding to each of your thermistor
resistance measurements.
2) If the measured Resistance is in between the values given in the table then use the
following equation to find the temperature
𝑇2 − 𝑇1
𝑇 = 𝑇1 + ( ) (𝑅 − 𝑅1 )
𝑅2 − 𝑅1
Where R 1 and R 2 are the values given in the table, just below and above the measured
value of R and T1, T2 are the corresponding temperatures.
3) For each value of T, determine the corresponding value in degrees Kelvin (K = C +
273). Enter both sets of values in the table2.
4) Calculate T4 for each value of TK and enter into the table2.
5) Calculate T4 – TRT4 for each value of T and record your results in the table2
6) Using Radiation as the dependent variable (y-axis), construct a graph of Radiation
versus T4 – TRT4.
Questions
Q1. What does your graph indicate about the Stefan-Boltzmann Law at low
temperature?
Q2. Is your graph a straight line? Discuss any deviations that exist.

58
Appendix

59
 Experiment 9: Conductivity of Materials

Preparatory questions
1. Define Ohms' law
2. Define the electrical current
3. Write Ohm’s law using resistivity, length, and cross-section of an object
4. Define thermal conductivity
5. You know that if you keep some ice in a plastic box it will melt very quickly but
if you keep it in a cool-box it will stay cold for much longer. Why?
6. What are the factors upon which heat transfer depends?

Aim
Aim of this experiment is to study the conductivity of materials. There are two parts
for this experiment. In the first part you will study the electrical conductivity and in the
second part the thermal conductivity. The principle behind the experiments is same.

Introduction
Electrical conduction:
Consider two charged plates A and B. Let the charge on plate A be higher than the
charge on plate B. This means that the electrical potential V 1 of plate A is higher than
the electrical potential V2 of plate B. When the two plates are connected to with a wire
there will be flow of charges along the wire
A B
Charge until the two plates come to the same
potential. The wire acts as an electrical
V1 V2
conductor; there is conduction of charges
trough the wire.
Figure 1. Electrical conduction Thermal conduction:
Consider two blocks A and B. Block A is at
temperature T1 and block B is at temperature T2, such that T1 is higher than T2.

A Heat B
T1 T2

Figure 2. A schematic describing thermal conduction

If these two blocks are connected to each other by a conducting link there will be a
flow of heat through the link from block A to block B until both blocks are at the same
temperature. You are already familiar with other forms of conduction. There are many
other examples of conduction. Consider two reservoirs A and B containing some fluid.
The fluid level in reservoir A is higher than the level in reservoir B. If they are
60
connected by a pipe, then there will be a flow of fluid from A to B until the levels in the
two reservoirs become same.

Theory
Part 1: Electrical conductivity of a constantan wire
This is a very simple experiment to understand the electrical conductivity of metals.
Defining the potential difference as V = (VA – VB) and the resistance of the wire
L
R   , then Ohms' law can be rewritten as in the following equation
S
dQ  1  S
   (V A  VB )
dt    L
Where L and S are respectively the length and the cross sectional area of the
resistance wire, and  is the electrical resistivity of the material.
In this part of the experiment you are given the following equipment:
A constantan wire attached to a ruler
charges

A caliper
A voltage source A R B
An amp-meter I
A voltmeter
V Measure
flow
Measure V = (VA –VB) of charges

Figure 3. The set up to measure the

electrical conductivity

To measure the electrical resistivity of a wire  you do the following:

Pass a constant current trough the wire and measure the current I with an amp-meter
Measure the voltage drop between two points V = (VA-VB) with a voltmeter. Repeat
this experiment by changing L (10 different lengths) to find corresponding VA -VB. Find
the Conductivity from the plot of L vs VA -VB.
Part 2: Thermal conductivity of copper
Hot water
Cold water OUT
Steam IN
OUT T1 T2 T3 T4

Figure 4. The Searle's

L apparatus

steam IN
Measure T = (T1 – T2) Heat exchanger
Heat source
61
To measure the thermal conductivity of copper you use a set up called the Searle's
apparatus. A schematic diagram of the apparatus is shown in figure 4. It is based on
the principle given in figure 4.
The Searle's apparatus consists of a copper cylinder with a heat source at one end and
a heat exchanger at the other end. The heat coming from the heat source flows along
the copper bar and is removed at the other end by the heat exchanger. In the steady
state, there is a constant flow of heat along the bar from the hot end to the cold end.
 The heat source is a plate heated by steam coming from a boiler. The steam flows
around the plate and keeps hot end of the bar at a constant high temperature.
 The heat exchanger is a narrow pipe wound around the cold end of the bar, a
steady flow of cold water is passed in the pipe to remove heat and keep the cold
end at a constant low temperature. There are two thermometers T3 and T4 to
measure the difference between the temperature of the water going in and the
temperature of the water coming out, you will use this temperature difference to
calculate the heat flow.
 There are two thermometers T1 and T2 to measure the temperature drop over the
length L of the bar. To ensure that there is a good thermal contact between the
thermometers and the copper bar there is a drop of paraffin in the holes for the
thermometers.
The whole apparatus is inside an insulating box to avoid loss of heat through the sides
of the copper bar.
The rate of flow of heat Q is given by

dQ S
 K (T1  T2 )
dt L

material temperature difference

Shape

 T1 and T2 are respectively the temperature of block A and block B. (figure 2)

 S is the area of the cross section of the link
 L is the length of the link
 The coefficient K called the thermal conductivity which is a property of the material

Some materials have large values of K and they are good heat conductors. The heat
can travel rapidly from one side of the material to the other. Metals are usually good
heat conductors.
Some materials have low values of K; they are poor conductors (good insulators!) the
heat cannot travel easily from one side to the other. Cool-boxes are made with good
insulating materials.

62
Experimental procedure
The apparatus should be already set up when you arrive in the lab.
Make sure that:
1. there is water in the boiler.
2. the rubber tube connected to the steam outlet is properly secured in the sink.
3. The water outlet of the heat exchanger is properly secured in the sink.
A. Preparing the heat exchanger
1. You need to set the rate of flow of the cooling water in the heat exchanger. A
recommended rate is 500 cm3 in about 3 to 5 minutes. Use the beaker and the
stopwatch to set the approximate rate of flow for the cooling water. You
control the flow of water by adjusting the water tap.
2. Make sure the water is always flowing when you are doing the experiment.
B. Starting the heating up process
Turn on the electric boiler. It will take some time for the water to boil. You hear a
sound when the steam coming out from the steam outlet.
WARNING!!!:
The steam is HOT!! and can seriously hurt you, make sure the steam outlet is
always well secured in the sink.
C. Taking your data
1. At the beginning of the experiment the two thermometers T 1 and T2 read the
same temperature of the copper bar.
2. When the steam begins to warm up the hot end, the temperature of the bar
will increase but, because one end of the bar is hot and the other end is kept
cold by the heat exchanger, there is a temperature gradient along the bar
 so after some time T1 will be higher than T2. Also, T4 will be higher than
T3 (why?).
3. After some time, there will be a steady state this means that there is a constant
rate of heat flowing through the bar. In the steady state the temperatures read
by all the thermometers will remain constant in time (but all different from
each other).
 After some time T1 ≠ T2 ≠ T3 ≠ T4 but T1, T2, T3, T4 will not change with
time and is called steady state.

4. You must monitor the changes in temperature by taking a reading on the four
thermometers every two minutes from the start. You can record your
monitoring in a table shown below:

Time (min) T1 (oC) T2 (oC) T3 (oC) T4 (oC)

63
When the temperatures do not change in time, the steady state is reached. You can
proceed to measure the heat flow.
D. Measurement of the heat flow
The heat flow in the steady state is the amount of heat per second that reaches the
cold end of the bar. It is the amount of heat per second that is taken away by the
water in the heat exchanger. This is what you need to measure.
The water comes in at temperature T3 and comes out at temperature T4.
Collect the water coming from the heat exchange for a period t of about 3 to 5
minutes and measure the mass m of the water collected. The amount of heat Q is
Q = m (T3 – T4) Calories or Q = m (T3 – T4) x 4200 Joules
The heat flow is

dQ Q m (T 4 T 3 ) x 4200 -1
  Js
dt t t

E. Calculation
To use the equation (1)
dQ S
 K (T1  T2 )
dt L
dQ
 Now you have the heat flow measure
dt
 The temperature difference between the two points A and B (T 1-T2).
 The distance between the two points A and B (L)
 Cross-sectional area of the copper bar (S)

(The length and the cross section can be measured on an identical cold Searle’s
apparatus.)
 Find the thermal conductivity K of Copper.
 Calculate the uncertainty in K; give a detailed calculation of the various
contributions to the uncertainty.
 Quote your result and uncertainty using the appropriate number of
significant figures and the correct units.

64
 Experiment 10: Electrical Oscillations

Preparatory questions
1. Write an expression for the energy stored in an inductor and a capacitor.
2. What is Kirchhoff’s loop rule for conservation of energy?
3. What is the difference between time period and ring time of an oscillator?
4. What is meant by quality factor of an oscillator? How it is related to the ring
time?
5. What is the reason for taking frequency width at I max for the calculation of
2
quality factor of a LCR circuit?
6. What are the axes of an oscilloscope monitor?

A signal displayed on an oscilloscope is shown in the

figure. The settings are 100 mV/div and 200 s/div.
calculate a) peak-peak voltage b) VRMS c) frequency of
the signal.

Aim
In this experiment you will study the oscillations of electric charges in a circuit
consisting of an inductor, a resistor and a capacitor connected in series (an LRC circuit).
The LRC circuit is a harmonic oscillator.
In the first part you measure directly the natural frequency of the LRC oscillator.
In the second part you will observe the resonance between the LRC oscillator and a
periodic driving voltage.

Introduction
The LRC circuit consists of an inductor, a resistance and a capacitor connected in series
as illustrated in figure 1. It is the electrical analogue of the mass-spring oscillator. Here,
we are interested in the oscillations of the electric charge.

oscillations of the charges C

Figure 1: The LRC circuit

65
The oscillation of the electric charges results in an AC current in the circuit. The
amplitude of the current is the equivalent of the amplitude of the oscillations of the
spring-mass system. Because of the losses in the resistor the oscillations will be
damped. In electronics we say that the circuit rings. The ringing of a circuit is useful in
some applications but can also be a problem in other applications.

Theory
Note: You need to revise the theory of the harmonic oscillator described in the
introduction to simple harmonic motion handout.
To study the oscillations we need to write the differential equation describing the
movement of the electrons:
Let q be the charge on the capacitor and I be the current in the circuit.

 The voltage across the resistor is VR = RI [1]

q
 The voltage across the capacitor is VC  [2]
C
dI
 The back emf across the inductor is VL  L [3]
dt
For the closed circuit we must have VL + VR + VC = 0 [4]
dq
Since I  , equation 4 becomes:
dt
d 2q dq q
L R  0 [5]
dt 2 dt C
This equation has the same form as equation 5 in the Introduction to Simple Harmonic
Motion.
So the electron will execute a damped harmonic motion.
By analogy one can see that the natural frequency of these oscillations is:
 1 
 
 C  1
0   [6]
L LC
The frequency of the damped oscillations is
2
R 
 02    [7]
 2L 
If you compare the electrical oscillator to the mass-spring system, you see that:
 L is the analogue of the mass m
 (1/C) is the analogue of the spring constant k
 R is the analogue of the damping coefficient 
The quality factor of the LCR circuit is given by

66
 f0
Q [8]
f 2  f1
1
where fo is the resonant frequency and f1, f2 are the frequencies corresponds to of
2
the maximum current value, see figure 5.
The ring time  is related to the Q factor through the relation
Q
 [9]
0
Experimental procedure
Assemble the LRC series circuit as shown in figure 2. Place the inductor and the
capacitor on the experimental board. Ask a technician how to use the experimental
board. Use the variable resistance box for the resistance.
In the first experiment use
R = 0 
C = 0.1 F
The value of L is to be determined in your experiment.

Oscilloscope
L

Oscillations of electrons
R
C

TTL trig

Function generator
Figure 2: The experimental setup to observe the damped oscillations in an LRC circuit

You observe the oscillations of the current by displaying the voltage across the
capacitor and the ground, on the oscilloscope.
When you connect the oscilloscope and the function generator, you MUST make sure
that the ground of both instruments are connected to the same point
Use a Ohm-meter to measure the resistance rL of the inductor. The total resistance in
the circuit is therefore R + rL
Is this rigorously correct? What other resistance is there in the circuit? How can you
measure more accurately the total resistance in the circuit?

67
 Direct measurement of the natural frequency of the LRC circuit
In the case of mass-spring system, to measure the natural frequency, you pulled the
mass, released it, and then observed the oscillations. However, in the electrical circuit
you do the same thing, you kick the electrons in to motion and observe their
oscillations of the current using the oscilloscope. To kick the electrons you apply a step
voltage to the circuit.

To obtain a permanent picture on the V T’

oscilloscope you need to keep repeating the
experiment. The best way to do this is to
apply a square wave with a period (T’) that is
Figure 3: A step voltage t
long compared to the ring time () of the
circuit (Why should the period be long
compared to the ring time?)
When the oscilloscope is correctly triggered, you can measure from the screen the
period of the damped oscillations.
 If your function generator has a TTL output use this output to trigger your
oscilloscope. If there is no TTL output use the main output in parallel as an external
trigger.
 Set the function generator to square wave
 Display the voltage across C and ground on channel 1
If you display the signal directly from function generator, you may see a signal like the
one shown in figure 2. Adjust the amplitude and the time base to obtain a stable
display. This may not be that easy, try hard first, if you cannot do it, ask for assistance.
Before you take any measurement, play with the circuit:
 Increase the value of the capacitor to 4.7 F. How does this affect the period of the
oscillations? Is this in agreement with equation 6?
 Change the value of the resistance. How does it affect the ring time? Can you make
the resistance so large that the circuit is over-damped?
Now set C and R to the original values and measure the period T of the oscillations
from the oscilloscope. Estimate the uncertainty in your reading from the oscilloscope.
Repeat the measurement for different values of the resistance (R = 0, 20, 40, 60, 80,
100, 200 . Tabulate your results. Can you observe any changes in the period as you
change the resistance? Obtain the value of L from your measurements.

  2 T  L L
R () T (s) T(s)
(rad/s) (rad/s) (H) (H)

Table 1. Measurement of the period of the oscillation for different values of the damping

68
From the data in your table, find the average value L. From your data decide if you
should calculate the uncertainties using the mathematical expressions or if you should
do the statistics on the values obtained with the different resistors.
Write your final value of L with the uncertainty. Use the appropriate units and number
of significant figures.
Estimate from the screen of the oscilloscope the ring time of the circuit for R = 0  and
for R = 200 

Measurement of the natural frequency using the resonance method
In this part of the experiment you measure the natural frequency of the circuit using
the resonance method. You force oscillations of the electrons in the circuit by applying
a sinusoidal driving voltage. You observe the response of the circuit, which is the
amplitude of the current in the circuit, as a function of the frequency of the driving
voltage. The maximum current is observed at resonance.
Disconnect the oscilloscope from the circuit and connect a digital voltmeter as shown
on figure 4. Again here you must think about how you connect the ground of the
voltmeter and the ground of the function generator. The voltmeter measures the
potential VR across the resistor. VR is related to the current I in the circuit by Ohm’s law
VR = R I
Set the function generator to sine wave and turn it on.
In the first part of this experiment you have measured the natural frequency of the
circuit. So, you have an idea of what the resonant frequency will be. Select the
appropriate frequency range for the function generator. Remember that the display on
the function generator gives , not
Part A: Low damping
Set R = 10 As you vary the frequency you should see, on the voltmeter, that the
current first increases and then decreases. If you do not see this, then think, maybe
you need to change the frequency range or maybe you need to increase the amplitude
of the signal or something else

Figure 4. The experimental set-up to observe the resonance in the RLC circuit

69
When you are satisfied that the resonance is within your selected range, obtain a
graph of the current as a function of the driving frequency f d.
To do this, you set the frequency to a value below resonance and then increase the
driver frequency in small steps until you are above resonance. You have to decide
yourself what kind of steps you should use. You should have at least 25 points on the
graph.
Note: At each step, you measure voltage across the resistor V R. You need to calculate
current I using Ohm’s law. Present your results in a table as shown below:
R=
fd (Hz) VR (V) I (A)

Your graph should look like the

one in figure 5.
From the graph find the value of
the resonant frequency by doing a
model fit (choose Gaussian Figure 5: The graph of current versus the driver frequency
function).
Repeat the measurement at least
two times and collect your
measurements into a table:

Take the averages and estimate

the errors.
Trial I max
Now determine the quality R f0 f1 f2 Imax 2
factor and ring time of the
1
circuit.
Find your own method to 2
Part B: High
obtain f1 anddamping
f2 accurately.

Repeat the measurements with R = 30 .

Plot and fit the resonance curve and enter the data into the above table.
Comment on the effect of R on the Q factor and on the resonance frequency.
From the value of Q, derive the ring time of the circuit for R = 10 and for R =30 .
Compare this with the ring time that you can measure from the display of the damped
oscillations on the oscilloscope (first part of this experiment).
Summarize your results in a table as shown below:
R f0 Q 

70
 Experiment 11: Photoconductivity of CdS

Preparatory questions:

1. What is photoconductivity? What is a photocurrent? What is a photoresistor?

2. Briefly define the conduction band, valence band and the bandgap in a
semiconductor.
3. What is an intrinsic (and extrinsic) semiconductor?
4. What is a hole in a semiconductor? What is a trap in a semiconductor?
5. What is the mobility of an electron (hole) in a semiconductor?

Aim:

This experiment is a simple introduction to the phenomenon of photoconductivity in

materials. The photoconductivity of a Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) photoresistor, also called
a light dependent resistor (LDR), is studied through the measurements of the
photocurrent (i) as a function of the applied voltage at a constant incident-light
irradiance and (ii) as a function of the incident-light irradiance at a constant applied
voltage.

Introduction and Theory

Photoconductivity is an optical and electrical phenomenon in which a material

becomes more electrically conductive subsequent to the absorption of
electromagnetic radiation such as visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared light, or
gamma radiations [1]. In other words, it is the effect of increasing electrical
conductivity () in a solid (see experiment 9) due to light absorption. When light is
absorbed in a material, such as the CdS semiconductor used in the present
experiment, the number of free electrons and holes increases and raises its electrical
conductivity. This happens when the so-called internal photo effect takes place: when
the light that impinges on the semiconductor have enough energy to enable the
transition of activator electrons from the valence into the conduction band and causes
the charge exchange of traps with holes created in the valence band. The ultimate
result of this the process is that the number of charge carriers in the crystal lattice
Increases and, as a result, the electrical conductivity is enhanced. The change
(increase) in the conductivity () will depend on both the change in the hole and
electron concentrations or densities:

∆𝜎 = ∆𝑝. 𝑒. 𝜇𝑝 + ∆𝑛. 𝑒. 𝜇𝑛 (1)

Where e is the electron elementary charge, p is the change in the concentration of

holes, n is the change in the electron concentration, p is the mobility of holes and n
is the mobility of the electrons.
An increase in the electrical conductivity caused by light absorption gives rise to a
photocurrent denoted by Iph. This photocurrent varies with both the voltage (U)

71
applied to the photoconductive material and the intensity of light impinging on the
material, and, is generally, given by:
𝐴
𝐼𝑝ℎ = 𝑑 . ∆𝜎. 𝑈 (2)
Where A is the cross section of the current path and d is the distance between the
electrodes.

Figure 1. A Cds photoresistor, its symbol as a light ()-dependent resistor and its typical
use in a circuit.

When a photoconductive material is connected as part of a circuit, it functions as a

resistor whose resistance depends on the light intensity. In this context, the material is
called a photoresistor or a light dependent resistor (LDR).
Semiconductor resistors that depend on the irradiance (photoconductive cells) are
based on this principle. They have opened up a wide field of applications and are,
among other things, employed in twilight switches and light meters. The
semiconductor materials most commonly used are cadmium compounds, particularly
CdS and CdSe.
In the experiment, a CdS photoresistor is exposed to light from a lamp. The irradiance
 at the position of the photoresistor being varied by means of two polarization filters
which are placed one behind the other. If the two polarization planes of the filters are
rotated against each other by the angle , the irradiance is:
Φ = Φ0 . 𝐷. cos2 (𝛼)

Where 0 is the irradiance without polarization filters, D is the transparency when the
polarization planes are parallel.

The photocurrent is studied as a function of the voltage applied to the photoresistor at

a constant irradiance (current- voltage characteristic) and as a function of the
irradiance at a constant voltage (current-irradiance characteristic)

Experimental procedure and measurements

Procedure:

WARNING: The photoresistor is destroyed by overload. Do not exceed the maximum

dissipated power P = 0.2 W, e.g., I = 10 mA at U = 20 V.

72
The experimental setup is shown in figure 2 below. To proceed, follow the steps
below:
1. Mount the lamp housing, the adjustable slit, the polarizer, the analyser, the
lens and the photoresistor on the optical bench as shown in Fig. 2.
2. Connect the leads of the lamp housing to the power supply (0-12V AC/DC, 5A)
and apply 10V AC to the lamp.
3. Adjust the height of the lamp housing, the adjustable slit self, the polarizer, the
analyser, the lens and the photo-resistor such that all of them lie on the same
optical axis.
4. Make the connections to the photo-resistor and multi-meter as shown in Fig. 2
5. Set initially the polarizer and analyzer at 0°.
6. Adjust the lamp, the lens and the photo-resistor so that a homogeneous ray of
light illuminates the photo-resistor

Figure 2. Experimental setup for recording the current-voltage characteristics of a CdS

photoresistor.

7. Set the voltage of DC power supply (0-16V DC, 5A) to 20V.

8. Adjust the width of the adjustable slit so that a current of about 9 mA flows
through the photo-resistor. Keep the width of the slit fixed for the rest of the
experiment.

Measurements:

a) Measuring the photocurrent Iph as a function of voltage U at a constant irradiance:

1. Set the analyzer at the 0° mark provided on the analyzer scale.

2. Interrupt the path of the ray of light, and determine the photocurrent I(0°) due
to the residual lightness.
3. Starting from 20 V, reduce the voltage U to 0 V in steps of 2 V. Measure the
photocurrent Iph, each time and record it.
4. Repeat the series of measurements with α at 30°, 60°, and 90°.
5. Plot on the same graph Iph versus U for the four different values of . Record
your observations and comments.

73
 U (Volt) Iph at 0° (mA) Iph at 30° (mA) Iph at 60° (mA) Iph at 90° (mA)
20

Table 1: The photocurrent Iph as a function of the voltage U at a constant irradiance 

b) Measuring the photocurrent Iph as a function of irradiance at a constant voltage U:

1. Set the voltage U to 16 V, interrupt the path of the ray of light and measure the
photocurrent I0 due to the residual lightness.
2. In order to vary the irradiance , increase the angle α between the polarization
planes of the filters in steps of 10° from 0° to 90°. Measure the photocurrent
Iph, each time and record it.
3. Repeat the series of measurements at U = 8 V and U = 1 V.
4. Plot on the same graph Iph versus  for the four different values of U. Record
your observations and comments.

α (°) Cos2(α) Iph at 16 V (mA) Iph at 8 V (mA) Iph at 1 V (mA)

0°

Table 2: The photocurrent Iph as a function of irradiance F at a constant voltage U

Additional evaluation:

From the recorded data above, extract the resistance of the photoresistor at four
different irradiance levels. Comments.

74
 Appendix 1: Simple Error Analysis

The verification of a physical law or the determination of a physical quantity involves

measurements. A reading taken from the scale on a voltmeter, a stopwatch, or a
meter stick, for example, may be directly related by a chain of analysis to the quantity
or law under study. Any uncertainty in these readings would result in an uncertainty in
the final result. A measurement alone, without a quantitative statement as to the
uncertainty involved, is of limited usefulness. Such uncertainties are called
experimental errors and their analysis is called error analysis.

A measurement or result can only have meaning if the measured value is shown
together with the associated error or uncertainty. Therefore results and
measurements must always be presented with three essential components:

a) The numerical value of the measurement

b) The corresponding error or uncertainty
c) The appropriate units

Example:
A measurement of the radius of a disk:

R = (5.3 ± 0.2) cm
Numerical Uncertainty Unit
value

Types of Experimental Errors

In a collection of data two types of experimental errors, systematic errors and random
errors, usually contribute to the error of the measured quantity. We will discuss
random errors shortly. Random errors are usually easier to deal with than systematic
errors because they are more easily identifiable and can be quantified using some
statistical procedure.

Systematic errors, on the other hand, tend to be more serious as they are often
difficult to detect and it is possible to perform an experiment while being unaware of
their existence. However, They can be eliminated, when they are detected. They are of
four types:

75
 1. Instrumental: For example, a poorly calibrated instrument such as a
thermometer that reads 102C when immersed in boiling water and 2C when
immersed in ice-water at atmospheric pressure. Such a thermometer would
result in measured values that are consistently high.
2. Observational: For example, parallax in reading a meter scale.
3. Environmental: For example, part of electrical circuit is burned out without our
knowledge that causes measured currents/voltages to be consistently low.
4. Theoretical: Due to simplifications of the model system or approximations in
the equations describing it. In principle, an experimentalist should identify and
eliminate systematic errors.
Random errors produce scatter in measured values. Random errors are positive or
negative; fluctuations that causes about one-half of the measurements to be too high
and one-half to be too low. Possible sources of random errors are as follows:
1. Observational: For example, errors in judgment of an observer when reading
the scale of a measuring device to the smallest division.
2. Environmental: For example, unpredictable fluctuations in line voltage,
temperature on mechanical vibrations of equipment.
Random errors, unlike systematic errors, can often be quantified by statistical analysis.

Statistical Analysis of Random Errors

If a physical quantity, such as a length is measured several times, then a distribution of
readings is obtained because of random errors. For such a set of data, the average or
mean value x is defined by

1 n
x  xi
n i 1
[1]

where xi is the ith measured value and n is the total number of measurements. The n
measured values will be distributed about the mean value as shown in figure 1.

x
Figure 1: Distribution of length measurement around the mean value

The mean of a set of data obtained by repeated measurements is regarded as the best
estimate of the true value of the quantity being measured. A small spread of the
measured values about the mean value implies high precision. Having determined the
"best value" for the measurement, that is, x , we need to estimate the uncertainty or
the error in this value. For this we use the mean of the sum of the squares of the
deviations (the difference between the ith data value and the mean) so called
Variance:

76
 n
 xi  x 
2

2  i 1
[2]
n
Notice that the units of the variance are square of the units in which the original
measurements were made.
Although variance is a fundamental measure of the spread of data values, it is more
common to find The Standard Deviation presented as a measure of spread. The
standard deviation is defined as

1 n
  xi  x 2 [3]
n i 1
If the standard deviation is small, then the spread in the measured values about the
mean is small; hence, the precision in the measurements is high.
Note that the standard deviation is always positive and that it has the same unit as the
measured values.
One can prove that the standard deviation of a set of repeat measurements of a
quantity remains almost constant, regardless of how many measurements are made.
When we are repeating measurements of a quantity during an experiment, we are
trying to find the best estimate for the mean, but in addition, we would like to
estimate an uncertainty in the mean. The standard deviation is only a number, which is
characteristic of the spread of the whole data set. This will imply that we should not
use it as the uncertainty in the mean. Therefore we introduce a new term: The
Standard Deviation of the Mean or Standard error of the mean  m . It is defined to
be


m  [4]
n
where  is the standard deviation and n is the total number of measurements. The
final result to be reported is then

x m [5]

The interpretation of equation (4) is that the measured value lies in the range from
x   m to x   m with a specified probability.

Example 1
The data below are a set of measurements of the length of a sheet of paper, made
with a meter rule.
L1 = 27.94 cm L2 = 27.96 cm L3 = 27.99 cm L4 = 27.97 cm
L5 = 28.00 cm L6 = 27.93 cm L7 = 27.96 cm L8 = 27.98 cm

77
Calculate: (a) the mean value, (b) the standard deviation, (c) the standard deviation of
the mean, (d) the standard error of the mean (e) the percentage error, and (f) the
result to be reported.

Solution
1 n
(a)
L  Li
n i 1
1
L  [27.94  27.96  27.99  27.97  28.00  27.93  27.96  27.98]  27.97 cm
8

 Li  L 
1 n

2

n i 1
(b)

1
8

0.032  (0.01) 2  (0.02) 2  (0) 2  (0.03) 2  (0.04) 2  (0.01) 2  (0.01) 2 
 0.02cm
s 0.02
(c, d) m    0.01cm
n 8

m
(e)  100  0.04%
L
(f) L   m  27.97  0.01cm

Estimation of Random Error

We will estimate measurement errors in a somewhat subjective way based on
judgment and experience. For example, we know that the ERROR IN A GIVEN
INSTRUMENT IS LIKELY TO BE ABOUT THE HALF SIZE AS THE SMALLEST SEPARATE
DIVISION ON THAT INSTRUMENT; but instruments vary widely in the reliability of that
smallest division, and some judgment must come into play. If we measure the position
of a mark to be 92.4 cm, using a meter stick whose smallest division is a millimetre,
then we might write the result as 92.40 ± 0.05 cm.
Figure 2 illustrates one way judgment must be exercised when one estimates
measurement errors. The distance d1 is the separation of the sharply defined vertical
lines, and d2 is the distance from centre to centre of the two "globs." Even though we
may measure d1 and d2 with the same ruler (hence, the smallest separate division is
the same), the error in d2 is likely to be larger than that of d1 because of the
uncertainty in locating the centres of the globs.
d1

d2
Figure 2: The estimated error in d2 is likely to be larger than that of d 1 because of the uncertainty in
estimating the centres of globs.

78
Propagation of Errors
In almost every experiment the result depends on the measurement of several values.
One needs to consider carefully how the associated errors of the measured values
affect the result and its corresponding uncertainty. Therefore, the propagation of error
is a method to determine the uncertainty in a value where the value is calculated by
using two or more measured values with known estimated errors.

Suppose that x, y and z are three measured values and the estimated errors are x, y
and z. The results of the three measurements would be reported in the form
x  x y  y z  z [6]

If w is some known function of the measured values, w(x, y, z), then we may calculate
w and its error w. To determine w, we need to calculate the partial differential of w
with respect to x and y and z. The accompanying change in w, w is then given as:

w w w
w  x  y  z [7]
x y z

Example1
Consider that a quantity V is calculated according to the formula: V  a bc . Where,
2

a, b, and c are values that are measured and each one has a corresponding uncertainty
of Δa, Δb, Δc. Then he expression for error on the value of V is given as:

V V V
V  a  b  c
a b c
V  2abca  a 2 cb  a 2bc

Example 2
You measure the radius of a sphere to be r = (5.0 ± 0.2) cm. Calculate the uncertainty
in the volume of the sphere.

In this case a single measurement is used with an uncertainty of 0.2 cm.

Therefore, we can directly apply Equation [7] and differentiate it to
calculate the uncertainty as follows:

The volume of a sphere is given by:

4 4
𝑉= 𝜋𝑟 3 ⇒ 𝑉 = π(5.0)3 = 523.3 cm3
3 3

therefore, we can find the uncertainty in V by differentiating V with

79
 respect to r:

𝑑𝑉
𝛥𝑉 = ( ) 𝛥𝑟
𝑑𝑟

Which will result in:

𝑑𝑉
= 4𝜋𝑟 2 ⟹ 𝛥𝑉 = (4𝜋𝑟 2 ) 𝛥𝑟 ⇒ 𝛥𝑉 = 4𝜋(5.0)2 (0.2) = 62.8 cm3
𝑑𝑟

So after rounding our final result can be neatly presented as:

V = (5.2±0.6)x102 cm3

Note that both the above results are acceptable provided that you are
consistent with the number of significant figures and decimal points.

In the above example we calculated the uncertainty to a value that we measured from
a single measurement and for a single variable (i.e. the radius). However, most of the
time we need to combine measurements of different quantities to be able to calculate
a result and also we will need to repeat each measurement such as to achieve greater
accuracy in our result. In this case we can apply Equation [7] to any formula. However,
there are situations that are so common and simple, such as taking the product of two
quantities that it is worth to remember the result of the differentiation rather than
computing it every time.
All of the examples given below can be derived from equation [7], use the appropriate
one to estimate the final uncertainty of your measurements whenever combining
different independent variables:

Sum/Difference
If V  a  b or V  a  b , the error on V is given as:

𝛥𝑉 = ∆𝑎 + ∆𝑏

Product/Division
a
If V  a  b or V  , the error on V may be calculated as:
b
𝛥𝑉 𝛥𝑎 𝛥𝑏
= +
𝑉 𝑎 𝑏
Polynomial Function
If V = an, the error on V may be calculated as:

80
 𝛥𝛼
𝛥𝑉 = 𝑛𝑉 ∙
𝛼
Logarithmic and Exponential Functions
If V = ln(a), the error on V may be calculated as:
𝛥𝛼
𝛥𝑉 =
𝛼
If V= eA, the error on V may be calculated as:
𝛥𝑉 = 𝑉𝛥𝑎

In the case of ANY general function which has a form such as V(a,b) then the
uncertainty ΔV is calculated by using the product/division case as shown above.

Important Remark (Not meant to confuse you):

Combining the uncertainties using the above method is satisfactory in many situations but
tends to overestimate the uncertainty in the calculated quantity. The problem is that most of
the time the variables you will be measuring correspond to different physical quantities
requiring different measuring devices. For example, to calculate the acceleration due to
gravity using a pendulum you might need to measure the length of a string using a ruler and
the period of the pendulum using a timer. These two different variables are independent of
each other meaning that the measurement of one does not affect the value of the other. In
this case when we combine the uncertainties we need to combine them in the same way we
add two orthogonal vectors (i.e. in quadratures). Considering this, we can estimate the
uncertainty in the cases of sum/difference and product/division as follows.

Sum/Difference
If V  a  b or V  a  b , the error on V is given as:

𝛥𝑉 = √(𝛥𝑎)2 + (𝛥𝑏)2
Product/Division
a
If V  a  b or V  , the error on V may be calculated as:
b
𝛥𝑎 2 𝛥𝑏 2
𝛥𝑉 = 𝑉 ∙ √( ) + ( )
𝑎 𝑏

81
 Problems (to be solved and solutions to be recorded in the diary)
Write the details of your calculations in your diary (to be graded).

m
1. T  2 a student has measured m = (216  5)g and k = (54  2)N/s
k
calculate T and T. Give the final result:
sin i
2. n given i = (0.792  0.001) rad and r = (0.708  0.001) rad
sin r
calculate n.
3. The mechanical energy of an object, which is falling free, is given as:
1
E mec  E P  E K  E mec (m, h,V )  mgh  mV 2
2
Where mass, m = (10.000  0.005) kg, Height h = (5.80  0.01) m, Velocity V = (0.25 
0.05) m/s. Calculate its mechanical energy and give the final results with an
appropriate error analysis.

4. In an experiment, the time of an object Ti /[s]

slides down an 80 cm inclined plane are 0.64
measured using a hand held stopwatch. 0.64
Table 1 shows values from ten repeat 0.59
timings of the motion. 0.58
Calculate: (a) the mean value, (b) the 0.70
standard deviation, (c) the standard
0.61
deviation of the mean, (d) the standard
0.68
error of the mean (e) the percentage
0.55
error, and (f) the final result to be given in
0.57
with correct number of significant figures.
0.63
Table 1

82
 Appendix 2: Using Data Analysis Package (Origin)

Often in experimental physics, the data obtained from an experiment is analysed using computer
packages. Packages are used mainly to do the following tasks:

1. Present the data in a graph or series of graphs.

2. Perform mathematical operations on a series of data
3. Fit the data to a mathematical expression
4. Perform statistical analysis.

In this experiment you will learn some aspects of each of these tasks using a package called
ORIGIN. During the experiment you are encouraged to explore all the features of this package.
The points that you must know perfectly by the end of this experiment are:

Present the data in a graph or series of graphs:

 Enter data manually; edit data in the columns
 Import data from an ASCII file
 Plot a graph
 Place error bars on the graph
 Edit a graph
o Remove bad data points
o Change the range of the axis.
o Select the number of major and minor ticks
o Change the orientation of the ticks
o Put a grid on the graph
o Edit the axis name, the numerical labels, the title / comment
 Add a second plot to the graph
 Print a graph
 Export a graph
 Save a project

Perform mathematical operations on a series of data

 Add / subtract two columns
 Normalise the data in a column
 Perform simple mathematics on the data (for example ln)

Fit the data to a mathematical expression

 Fit the data to a straight line and to a polynomial
 Fit the data to an exponential
 Obtain the relevant parameters and the uncertainty from the fit

You are asked to perform a series of tasks to help you discover step by step the facilities of this
package. This is your chance to master a package that you will use again and again in most of
the courses until you graduate. Please take it seriously.

83
Task 1. Entering data manually

Here are the data that give the measured speed of a car as a function of time.

Time t (s) Speed v (m/s) (t) (v)

20 62 1 4
30 86 1 4
40 122 1 4
50 147 1 5
60 182 1 6

 Open Origin by clicking on the appropriate icon

 Enter the data for time and the velocity in the first two columns

A(X) B(Y)
1 20 62
2 30 86
3 40 122
4 50 147
5 60 182

 Plot the graph by clicking on plot on the menu bar. You have several types of plots. Try
them to see what you get. Delete all the plots when you have finished exploring. Notice
that for quick plotting you can use the icons at the bottom the screen. If you need to do
more advanced things then it is better to use the option on the menu bar.
 Plot the graph as a scatter graph; this is the best way for experimental data because it
shown the data points.

Now you need to put the error bars.

 Return to the data window and add two columns. Click on columns in the menu bar and
then select add columns.
 Type the uncertainties in t and in v in the extra columns.
 Re-plot the graph with the error bars. Click on plot on the menu bar, you have the option
for selecting which column has the uncertainty on y and which has the uncertainty on x.

Your graph now should look like the one in figure1. Save your work with the name LINE
STEP 1. Print the graph.

84
 Figure 1. The first plot of the data.

This graph is not good. We need to work on the presentation.

 You need to put your own label on the axis. On the graph double click on the label (X
axis) it brings a window to edit the label. Explore the options
o Type in your label; learn how to do superscripts, subscripts, bold....
o Change the font. Change the size (usually 18 points looks good)
o Click OK to return to the graph. See how you can move the position of the
label by clicking and dragging.

 There is that box with a dot and a B inside. You don’t want it. To remove it clicks on it
and then press delete on your keyboard.

 Now edit the axis:

To do that, double click on any axis. This will bring the axis and label edit-windows.
The small window on the left let you select which axis you want to edit: Bottom, top, left or
right. Then you select the window allowing you to change what you need to change.
Explore all the options. Then do the following:

In title and format

o Add an axis on the right
o Add an axis on the top
o Place the ticks on the inside of the graph
In scale
o Change the scale on the speed axis. Start from 30 and end at 210
o Change the increment of the ticks to 40

 Write a legend or a comment in the graph. First click on T on the icons on the menu
bar and then click anywhere on your graph; this brings the window to enter and edit the
text you want to write.
Write: Figure 2. The speed versus time.

85
 Change the size of your text to 14 points and make the word “Figure 2” in bold.
Click OK when you are finished then click and drag on the text to place it where you want.

Your graph now should look like the one in figure 2. Save your work with the name LINE
STEP 2. Print the graph.

Now you have a decent graph you need to analyse it. For example find the slope that is the
acceleration and the initial velocity. There are two ways to do this:

1. To place a grid on the graph and analyse it as you have learned in PHYS 2102.
2. To use Figure
the package to do
2. The plot of aLINE
leastSTEP2
square fit to a straight line to find the slope and the
intercept.

We will do both.

A. Putting a grid on the graph.

If we need to read a data from the graph we need to have a fine grid, this means several minor
tics between the major ticks.
Also, to make life easy it would be better to have the time axis starting at zero.

To do it, do the following:

 Double click on the time axis to come again to the axis edit windows.

o Change the start of the axis to 0

o Change the increment to 10
o Put 9 minor ticks, this will give you 10 intervals as on a graph paper.
o Place vertical grid lines on major and minor ticks. Change the grid lines to solid

 Select the speed axis

86
 o Change the start of the axis to 0
o Here you can leave the increment to 40
o Put 9 minor ticks, each minor tick will be 4 m/s you can use a different setting if you
don’t like this
o Place horizontal grid lines on major and minor ticks. Change the grid lines to solid

For your analysis it is better to change the size of the data points and of the error bar capping.
To do this, double click on a data point. This will bring the edit windows. In the window on the
left you can select what you want to edit (data point, error bar on x or error bar on y) change
accordingly in the window. Change the shape of the point to circle and make it smaller

Your graph now should look like the one in the next page. Save your work with the name LINE
STEP 3. Print the graph. Draw on the graph the lines of maximum and minimum slopes; find
the acceleration and the initial velocity with the uncertainties. Write your results in your diary.

Figure 3. The plot of LINE STEP 3

B. Do a least square fit

Display the graph on the screen and then click on analysis on the menu bar.
(Note you can do analysis on the graph and different analysis on the data columns. You
must be in the correct window before you click on analysis.)

Select linear fit

The package will perform a least square fit of your data to a straight line.
The best line will be drawn on your graph and a window giving the results of the least square fit
will appear. The window looks like the one bellow:

87
 Linear Regression for LINE1_B:
Y=A+B*X

Parameter Value Error

------------------------------------------------------------
A 23.52 0.13721
The information B
in the window6.1422
tells you that the A is the intercept and B is the slope.
0.02846
The results you should read from the table in this example is:
------------------------------------------------------------

A = ( 23.5 + 0.2) units and B = ( 6.14 + 0.03) units

Now do the least square fit to your graph. Save your work as LINE STEP 4. Print the graph.
Write the results in your diary. Compare the results form the least square fit with the one you
obtained by drawing the best line on the graph.

Task 2. Importing data from a file

Often the amount of data you need to analyse is very large because the measurements have been
taken by a computer or because they are the result of a computer calculation.

In this case your data comes in a computer file as ASCII data. This is a file that contains just
columns of numbers. You can import this data directly in the columns of your data sheet. To do
this, do the following:

 Click on file on the menu bar

 Find the import option
 Select import ASCII and then single file
o This will bring up a usual window to open a file. Select the file called
LineASCII.dat click OK and the data should appear in your data sheet.

The data represents the position of a particle as a function of time. The time is in the first
column and the position is in the second column. The uncertainties are not recorded; it will be
obtained from the scatter of the points about the line.

 Plot the graph of position versus time

 Present the graph as shown in figure 5.
 Do a least square fit to find the velocity and the initial position. Write
the results in your diary.

88
Write the results, with the uncertainty, in your diary
Print the graph.
Save the project as LineASCII.

Figure 5. The plot of LINE ASCII

Task 3. Polynomial fit

You remember from your Physics 1 course that the position of a uniformly accelerated particle
is given by:

x  x o  v 0 t  1 at 2
2
This expression is a polynomial of order 2. The graph of x versus time is not a straight line but a
parabola.

The package you have can fit the data to a polynomial of the form.
x = A0 + A1 t + A2 t2

Use the file called PARABOL.dat. The data represent the position of a uniformly accelerated
particle as a function of time. The time is in the first column and the position in the second
column.

 Import the data

 Plot the graph of position versus time and present it as in figure 6.
 Perform a least square fit and find the initial position xo, the initial velocity vo and the
acceleration a.

Write your results (with uncertainty) in your diary

Print the graph. Save your work as PARABOL.

89
Figure 6. The graph of PARABOL

Differentiating the data.

You know that the speed is given by the derivative of the position
dx
v   vo  a t
dt
The package can differentiate the data.
To do that
 Bring your plot on the screen
 Click on Analysis/Calculus on the menu bar
 Select differentiate
dx
You should obtain a graph of as function of time. As you expect, this graph is a straight
dt
line. The slope of the line is the acceleration.
 Do a least square fit of the differentiated data to a straight line.
 Find the acceleration and the initial velocity
 Compare your results to what you obtained by fitting the parabola.
 Present your graph as figure 7

Print the graphs and save the project as PARABOL.

90
Figure 7. The graph of the derivative of the position with respect to time.
Task 4. Manipulating data.

You have a file called EXPdecay.dat available. The data represent the decay of the current in a
circuit after something has been switched off.
The equation for the current has the form
I = Imin + Ioexp(-t/
The data in column A is the time t and the data in column B is the measured current I.

Your tasks are:

 Plot the graph of I versus t and present it as figure 8.
 Find the values of Imin, I0 and  by doing a least square fit of the data to an
exponential decay. (Follow the same procedure as in task 3).
 Verify that the equation 1 above is a good model to describe the data. (If you look
at your graph, it looks also like the graph of an inverse law (y=1/x). )

Figure 8: The plot of the exponential decay.

To make sure that you have an exponential decay you do the following:
Write
I -Imin = Ioexp(-t/

Then take the natural logarithm of both sides of equation 2

1
ln( I  I min )  ln( I o )  t

1
This is the equation of a straight line with slope and intercept ln(Io).


91
Therefore if the graph of ln(I-Imin) is a straight line, you can conclude that equation 2 is a good
representation for the data.

What you have to do:

Go to the data window and add two more columns; C and D
Set the values of column C as (I-Imin). Use the value of Imin you obtained in the least
square fit and set the values of COL(C) to [COL(B)- Imin.]
Set the values of column D to ln(I-Imin) that is ln(COL(C)).
Plot the graph of ln(I-Imin) versus time.
Is it a straight line?
Do least square fit to a straight line and find Io and .
Compare the results with what you obtained by fitting the exponential.
Write all your results in your diary.
Print the graphs

92
 Appendix 3: Introduction to Simple Harmonic Motion

Introduction
This section gives a general introduction to simple harmonic motion, forced and
damped oscillations and resonance.
The harmonic oscillator and resonance phenomena are found almost everywhere in
physics; you are expected to understand these concepts fully by the end of this course.
Here are a few examples of where resonance of a harmonic oscillator is found in
physics: Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Physics, Spectroscopy, Telecommunications,
Acoustics, Electronics etc.
The sound produced by any musical instrument, the tone adjustment on your stereo
system, lasers, the receiver on your satellite TV, the GSM and the Magnetic Resonance
Imaging Scanners in hospitals are just a few applications of the principles discussed in
this section.

Simple harmonic motion

You had a first introduction to simple harmonic motion in your Physics I course
(chapter 10).
A simple harmonic oscillator is characterised by three things:
 A stable equilibrium position.
 When the system is displaced from its equilibrium position, there is a restoring
force that tends to bring the system back to the equilibrium position.
 The restoring force is proportional to the displacement from the equilibrium
position.
The equation of motion, x(t), of the oscillating system is given by the solution of the
differential equation

d2x
 02 x  0 [1]
2
dt
The general solution of this differential equation is

x(t )  A0  sin(  0 t   ) [2]

Where the amplitude A0 and the phase  are constants determined by the initial
conditions.
In the physics I course you were given two solutions for equation 1:

x(t )  A0  sin(  0t ) [3]

x(t )  A0  cos( 0t ) [4]

You can easily see that equation 3 corresponds to equation 2 with = 0 and that
equation 4 corresponds to equation 2 with= (/2).

93
 The system oscillates with angular frequency 0.  is also called the natural
frequency.
2
 The period of the oscillation is T  .
0
When the motion of a system is given by equation 1 then the system is called a
harmonic oscillator.
The simplest example of harmonic oscillator is a mass m attached to a spring with
spring constant k.

Equilibrium position
k m

F = -kx

-A0 0 +A0 x

Oscillations
Figure 1: The spring-mass system, an example of harmonic oscillator.

It is easy to show that the spring-mass system is a harmonic oscillator. When the mass
it is displaced by x from the equilibrium position, the force acting on the mass is:
F  k  x [5]
Newton’s law says that
F  ma [6]
where

dv d 2 x
a  [7]
dt dt 2
d 2x
 k  x  m [8]
dt 2
by rearranging equation 8, one gets

d 2x d 2x  k 
m 2  k  x 0 or   x 0 [9]
dt dt 2  m 
which is identical to equation 1 with

k
0  [10]
m

94
The mass oscillates with a period

m
T  2 [11]
k
Important remarks:
The natural frequency (or the period T) is a characteristic of the system. It does not
depend on the initial conditions (amplitude and phase).
In the example of the mass spring system the frequency depends only on the mass m
and the spring constant k. This has important practical implications because by
measuring the frequency one can then obtain information about the fundamental
characteristics of the oscillator (such as the mass or the spring constant for example).

Damped oscillations
The simple harmonic oscillator is an ideal system, with no loss of energy. Most of the
real oscillators eventually lose their initial energy. In this case we say that the oscillator
is damped.
The effect of damping must be introduced into equation 1.
The simplest way to describe the damping is to introduce a force f proportional to the
velocity v and which always opposes to the velocity. Therefore we write

dx
f    v    [12]
dt
It is natural to consider f proportional to v because f is present only when the
system is moving relatively slowly.
Therefore the differential equation for the system now takes the form of:

d 2x dx
A 2  B  Cx  0 [13]
dt dt
A, B, C are constants. A, and C are equivalent to m, and k respectively for a mass and
spring system. There are standard mathematical methods to solve equation 13.
The general solution is

amplitude at time t

B
 t
x  A0 e 2A
sin( ' t   ) [14]

initial amplitude
oscillation
damping

95
There is an exponential decrease of the amplitude of the oscillations. The frequency of
the damped oscillations is given by
2
C  B 
'    [15]
 A   2A
Note that the damped frequency is always smaller than the natural frequency. You can
2
C  B 
see that according to the relative values of   and   you can have three
A  2A 
situations:
2
C  B 
If      then ’ is real. x
A  2A 
T
The system executes damped oscillations.
The graph of the amplitude as a function of
time (equation 14) is illustrated in figure 2.
2
The period is: T  t
'
2 Figure 2: Damped oscillations
C  B 
If      the term in the square
 A   2A  x
root is negative and ’ is therefore
imaginary. In this case there are no
oscillations.
The graph of the amplitude versus time
(equation 14) is illustrated in figure 3.
The system is said to be over damped.

If the system is displaced from its t

equilibrium, it will just return gradually Figure 3: Over damped oscillator
to the equilibrium position without any
oscillations.
2
C  B 
The third case is when      . In this case there are no oscillations. The system
 A   2A 
returns rapidly to its initial position but does not oscillate. This situation at the limit
between oscillations and over damping is called critical damping.

Mass-spring system

Imagine a pendulum inside a tank of liquid. It will swing only for short period of time.
The period depends upon the density of liquid, because the liquid exerts a drag force
on the pendulum that quickly eliminates the motion. A pendulum swinging in a gas
environment does better, but still the motion dies out eventually, because of the
96
friction (drag) force due to surrounding gas and the friction at its support, losing its
energy from the pendulum's motion.

Figure 4 shows a block with mass m

oscillates vertically on a spring with
spring constant k. From the block, a rod
extends to a vane (both assumed
massless, an idealized example of a
damped oscillator) that is submerged in
a liquid. As the vane moves up and
down, the liquid exerts a dragging force
on it and thus on the entire oscillating
system. The mechanical energy of the
block–spring system decreases, as
energy is transferred to thermal energy
of the liquid and vane.

Figure 4: An idealized damped simple

harmonic oscillator. A vane immersed in a
liquid exerts a damping force on the block as
the block oscillates parallel to the x-axis.

Let us assume the liquid exerts a damping force Fd that is proportional in magnitude
to the velocity v of the vane and block, if the vane moves slowly.

Fd  bv [16]

where b is a damping constant that depends on the characteristics of both the vane
(shape) and the liquid (density, viscosity) and has the SI unit of kilogram per second.
The minus sign indicates that Fd opposes the motion.

The force on the block from the spring is

Fs  kx [17]

Then we can write Newton's second law for components along the x-axis. We assume
that the gravitational force on the block is negligible compared to Fd and Fs .

Fnet,x  bv  kx  ma [18]

97
 dx d 2x
Substituting for v and for a and rearranging give us the differential
dt dt 2
equation

d 2x dx
m 2  b  kx  0 [19]
dt dt

The solution of this equation is

  bt 
x(t )  xm exp  sin( t   ) [20]
 2m 

The phase  is a constant, it is determined by the initial conditions. x m is the initial

amplitude and   is the angular frequency of the damped oscillator. This angular
frequency is given by

k b2
   [21]
m 4m 2

 k
If b = 0 (there is no damping), then Equation 21 reduces to   0   for the
 m 
angular frequency of an undamped oscillator. If the damping constant is small but not
zero so that

b  km then    0 [22]

We can regard Equation 20 as a sine function whose amplitude, which is

  bt 
xm exp  , gradually decreases with time, as Fig. 5 suggests.
 2m 

98
 Figure 5: The displacement function x(t) for the damped oscillator

For an undamped oscillator, the mechanical energy is constant and is given by

1
E  kxm2 [23]
2

If the oscillator is damped, the mechanical energy is not constant but decreases with
time. If the damping is small, we can find E (t ) by replacing x m in equation 23 with
  bt 
xm exp  , the amplitude of the damped oscillations. By doing so, we find that
 2 m 

1   bt 
E (t )  kxm2 exp  [24]
2  m 

which tells us that, like the amplitude, the mechanical energy decreases exponentially
with time.

Problem

For the damped oscillator of Fig. 1, m = 100 g, k = 65 N/m, and b = 80 g/s.

1) What is the period of the motion?

2) How long does it take for the amplitude of the damped oscillations to drop to
half its initial value?
3) How long does it take for the mechanical energy to drop to one-half its initial
value?

Forced oscillations, resonance.

99
We have said in the previous section that by measuring the natural frequency of a
harmonic oscillator one can obtain information on the fundamental characteristics of
the oscillator.
For a mass-spring system one can measure the natural frequency using a stopwatch.
However, in the most interesting cases such as, for example, the oscillations of atoms
in a molecule, one needs a more elaborate technique to measure the natural
frequency.
One of these techniques is the resonance method.
What is resonance?
Consider a harmonic oscillator such as the mass-spring system for example.
The system has a natural frequency 0.
Equilibrium position
Figure 6: Forced oscillations.

k m Driving force: Fd cos(dt)

x
0

Now, a periodic (oscillating) force Fdcos(dt) is applied to the system. This force is
called a driving force because it drives the oscillator; it forces the system to oscillate.
Fd is the amplitude of the driving force. The frequency d of the driving force is
different from the natural frequency 0 of the oscillator
The system is forced to oscillate at the frequency of the driver. This is why the motion
is called forced oscillations.
For forced oscillations, the differential equation for the motion of the system is:

d 2x dx
A 2  B  Cx  Fd cos( d t ) [25]
dt dt
For the mass-spring system this becomes:

d 2x dx
m 2   kx  Fd cos( d t ) [26]
dt dt
The solution of this equation is not straightforward. At the beginning the motion is
quite complex but after a short time the motion becomes simple harmonic and the
position of the mass is given by

x(t )  Af sin( d t   ) [27]

100
You can see that the frequency of the forced oscillations is equal to the frequency d
of the driving force. The amplitude of the oscillations is:

Fd
Af  A [28]
(   )  ( B d A) 2
2
0
2 2
d

for the mass spring system this is becomes:

Fd
Af  m [29]
( 02   d2 ) 2  (d m) 2
Look carefully at equation 29: You can see that if the frequency of the driver d is very
different from the natural frequency 0 of the oscillator then the term (0 - d)2 is
very large, therefore the denominator in equation 29 is very large and the amplitude A f
is very small. On the other hand, if d is equal to 0 then (0 - d)2 is equal to zero and
the amplitude is at a maximum.
In simple words this means that if you force the oscillations at a frequency very
different from the natural frequency then the oscillator does not respond. The
oscillator does not like to oscillate at a frequency different from its natural frequency
the amplitude is therefore very small. But if you force the system at its natural
frequency then the response is very large (large amplitude).

Small damping
A typical graph of the amplitude as a
function of the frequency of the
Af

driver is shown on figure 7.

When the frequency of the driver
is equal to the natural frequency
d = 0 we say that the driver is
at resonance with the oscillator. Large damping
Amplitude

Over-damped
Figure 7: The response of a damped
oscillator to a driving force. If there is
no damping then the response
is infinite.

Frequency of the driver d

The shape of the curve depends on the damping. By looking at equation 29 can you tell
what will happen at resonance if there is no damping (= 0)? The resonance method is
a powerful method to measure the natural frequency of an oscillator. It is often easier
to observe the response of an oscillator than to measure directly the natural
101
 frequency. By observing the response of the oscillator as a function of the driver
frequency one finds the resonance and therefore the natural frequency. From the
natural frequency one then finds the characteristics of the oscillator.
For example, consider a di-atomic molecule such as H2 or N2. The molecule is not rigid,
the two atoms oscillate about their equilibrium position. The molecule is like two
masses M connected to each other by a spring with spring constant k as shown on
figure 8. The spring constant depends on the atomic forces.

Figure 8: A di-atomic molecule is a harmonic

oscillator

It is obviously impossible to measure directly the natural frequency of this oscillator

but it is possible to drive the oscillator with electromagnetic waves and to observe the
resonance.
Quality factor and ring time.
In the previous section we have been talking in a qualitative way about small damping
and large damping but in this section we give a more quantitative description.
If an oscillator has large damping you observe two things:
 If you kick the oscillator into motion, the oscillations will stop very rapidly.
 The resonance curve is broad
We can characterise these properties by two quantities, the ring time and the quality
factor respectively.
The quality factor
The quality factor is a property of the oscillator. It is usually called Q. You can find
several definitions of the quality factor because in different applications it is more
convenient to use different expressions for Q. All these definitions are equivalent.
We give here two definitions:
Af

The first one is based on the shape of

Af max
the resonance curve.

We define the two points A and B

 called the half power points.
A B These points are the two points of
the resonance curve where the
amplitude of the response is
A f max
[30]
2




Figure 9: The quality factor of the harmonic 102

oscillator can be defined in terms of the
width of the resonance curve
where Af max is the amplitude at resonance.
The quality factor is defined as
0 
Q  0 [31]
2  1 

where is the resonance frequency and and are respectively the frequencies
corresponding to the points A and B as shown on figure 9.
The points A and B are called the half-power points because at these points the power
stored in the oscillator is equal to half the power that is stored when the driver is at
resonance with the oscillator.
Another definition is bases on the energy of the oscillator:
energy stored
Q [32]
energy dissipated per cycle

What does this expression mean?

When you pull the mass of the spring-mass system you store some energy in the
spring. When you release the mass, the damping takes away some of this energy.
The quality factor is defined in this case as the amount of energy you have in the spring
divided by how much is lost during one period.
It may seem in this definition that Q depends on how much energy you have stored in
the spring but this is not true. The quality factor is a property of the oscillator only.
The ring time
When you pull and release the mass of the spring-mass system the mass oscillates and
then stops after a certain time.
This time is related to the quality factor. If the quality factor is high the oscillations
continue for a long time.
The ring time of an oscillator is defined as the time taken for the amplitude to
decrease by a factor (1/ e) where e is the base of natural logarithms.
So, if at time t the amplitude is A0 then, after one ring time  the amplitude is
A0
A ( )  [33]
e
It can be shown that the ring time and the quality factors are related by
Q  0 [34]

From equation 14 you can see that

2A
 [35]
B
or, for the spring-mass system
2m
 [36]


103
 g
Problem 1. The natural frequency of a pendulum of length l is  0  where g is
l
the acceleration due to the gravity. Given g = (9.85 + 0.05) ms-2 and l = (40.0 + 0.3)10-2
m. Calculate the natural frequency.
Problem 2. The natural frequency can be Frequency fd Amplitude
(MHz) (Degrees)
obtained from the position of the peak of the 787.0 0.4
resonance curve. The data from a resonance 787.5 0.8
788.0 1.0
experiment is given in the following table.
788.5 1.3
Plot the graph of amplitude versus frequency. 789.0 2.3
789.5 6.8
Measure the frequency of the peak. Compare
790.0 10.2
the measurement from the graph to the 790.5 6.2
result obtained in question 1. 791.0 4.3
791.5 2.5
792.0 0.9
792.5 0.5
793.0 0.1

The simple pendulum

Theory:
You must revise the theory given in chapter 10 of your
Physics I notes. We give here only a very brief summary.
You need to give more details in your report.
A simple pendulum consists of a point mass m attached to
l a massless string of length l as shown in figure 10.
 When the pendulum is displaced by s from its equilibrium
position there is a restoring force F in the tangential
T direction
F  mg sin( )  mg sin( s / l )
s
The equation of motion of the mass is obtained by writing
F F = ma
 d 2s
F  mg sin( s / l )  ma  m [37]
dt 2
This is not the equation for simple harmonic motion.
mg However if the angle  is small (how small?) then it is
Figure 10: The forces acting possible to make the approximation
on the mass of a simple
pendulum. sin
With this approximation the equation of motion [37]
becomes

104
 g d 2s d 2s
  s  Or   2 s
l dt 2 dt 2

g
This is the equation for a simple harmonic oscillator. The quantity  
l
 2 
is the natural frequency that is related to the period T of the pendulum by T   
 
4 2
Therefore T 
2
l [38]
g
Notice that the period of the oscillations is independent of the mass.
It can be seen from equation 38 that a graph of T2 versus l will be a straight line with
4 2
slope m  . Thus g can be obtained from the slope of the graph.
g

105
 Appendix 4: Students Responsibilities

1. Code of conduct in the laboratory

The following points give the general rules for the code of conduct for the students in
the laboratory. It is the responsibility of the instructors and the technical staff to ensure
that all students adhere to these basic rules.
 Students must read and understand the experiment instructions before the
laboratory session and should consult beforehand with the instructor and
technical staff, if they need help.
 Students must come to the laboratory in time and should not leave the
laboratory without the instructor's permission, or before the laboratory session.
 Students must observe all the prescribed safety rules.
 At the end of the session the students should leave the apparatus in the state it
was found at the start of the laboratory session.
 Students should leave the laboratory at most 10 minutes after the end of the
laboratory session.
 If a student wants to do extra time in the laboratory outside the scheduled
sessions, permission from the instructor is needed and technical supervision is
required.
 During the lab session students can confer with their colleagues as well as with
the academic and technical staff however, plagiarism (copying) of any form is
not tolerated and will be severely punished.
 Students must be respectful of their colleagues and ensure that their work and
their discussions do not disrupt the work of their colleagues.
 Students must ensure that their experimental procedure does not cause any
hazard risk for their colleagues in the lab.

2. General Skills taught in this experimental course

The experimental physics program, which is taught as part of various courses, aims to
develop and consolidate gradually the full range of experimental skills physics
graduates need. While some skills may be developed over more than one course, each
course will emphasize a certain group of skills. The skills to be emphasized in
PHYS3005 are listed below:
 Objectives of an investigation involving several measurements
 Maintain a laboratory logbook
 Report writing (abstract, plan, conclusions versus objectives)
 Analyzing data using a software package (linear and nonlinear fits)
 Use of specialized apparatus
 Develop safety awareness in laboratories

106
 Appendix 5: Guidelines on Diary Keeping and Report Writing

Rules on keeping a logbook

Keeping a good logbook is an essential part of scientific work. The logbook is a
complete chronological record of how the experiment is conducted. It must contain all
details of the experimental investigation; the experimental conditions, the measurements
taken, the data obtained and the calculations performed. In undergraduate physics
laboratory, the logbook provides all the information required to write a full formal
report or prepare an oral or poster presentation of the experiment. A well maintained
logbook will help the student to repeat and correct some of the measurements if the
result is not what is expected.
The following notes are guidelines to help students maintain the logbook. They must be
taught by the instructors in the various courses. Because maintaining a log book is a
skill that will be developed over the years the instructors should work to improve the
following points in all of the experimental courses:

 Before arriving at the laboratory session, the students should have read the
laboratory manual ad prepared their lab book. The preparation of the lab book
consists in writing:
 The title of the experiment
 A brief summary of what are the objectives
 Notes on the theory related to the experiment; only the equations that
will be used for the analysis of the data should be written
 An outline of the work that is planned for the session
 A sketch of the experimental set up

 Copying the manual must be avoided; the students should

write the summaries in their own words

 A permanent pen (Black or Blue ONLY) should be used for writing in the
logbook.
 The logbook is not expected to be particularly neat and tidy. However,
everything recorded must be legible and sufficiently well-ordered. The use of
appropriate headings and sub-divisions are helpful in structuring the notes.
 All results, comments, notes and observations should be written directly in the
logbook as the experiment is in progress. Students must not write up after the
experiment is completed. Data should never be recorded on loose paper.
 If incorrect results are recorded they should not be rubbed out or overwritten.
The apparently wrong results should be lightly crossed or bracket off in some
way so that they remain legible and the student must write a comment on why
these results are considered wrong. This is important as some times it is found
later that these results are of some use.
 The units of all measured quantities must be recorded.

107
 It is not necessary to copy the experimental procedure from the manual. The
students, however, must write the chronological steps of their procedure as they
are doing it. Any special procedures or precautions taken to ensure the reliability
of the results obtained should be recorded. Sufficient description of the
experimental technique and of specialized apparatus must be recorded in the
logbook for future reference.
 All calculations made during analysis of the data should be recorded in the
logbook.
 Any observations which appear unusual must be recorded in the logbook (for
example an excessively noisy signal).
 Tables and graphs must have a title. Avoid using symbols in the title (Table 1:
The voltage against the current in the resistor is better than V vs I.)
 Tables must have a heading row which includes the name and the unit of the
quantity in the corresponding column.
 Details of the error estimation and the uncertainty calculations must be recorded
in the logbook.
 A brief conclusion stating:
 If the aims have been achieved
 The main numerical results with uncertainty and correct
number of significant figures
 Some comments if there are any

108
 Guidelines to write a formal report
Writing a formal scientific report is a skill that in general the students do not have when
they come to the experimental courses. This skill must be taught. The following are
some guidelines for teaching on writing a report.
 Student should write a plan of their report and discuss it with the instructor. The
plan of the report consists of:
 Defining what are the main results to be presented
 Deciding the title of the sections and subsections. The
standard sections are introduction, theory, experiment,
analysis and conclusion. However, the subsections vary
significantly depending on the experiment. When the
experiment has several parts the student has to decide on how
to present the two parts. Learning how to make these decisions
is one of the main teaching aims.
 Selecting the graphs, figures and tables that will be included in
the report
 Deciding on which theoretical points will be included in the
report
 Deciding if appendices are needed
 Writing the abstract and the conclusion
 Once the plan is done the student can start writing. The following are only
general guidelines; it is left to the discretion of the instructor to adapt them to
individual cases.
 The abstract must be one short paragraph giving three pieces of
information: 1) What has been done? 2) How? 3) What has been found?
A comment if appropriate.
Example: The fine splitting of the orange line of sodium has been measured using a
grating spectrometer. The value found is (#### ± #) nm which is significantly different
from the accepted value. A possible interpretation of the discrepancy is discussed.
 The introduction must place the work presented in a general context. It
must start with very general statements then in a few sentences narrowed
down to the actual specific content of the report. The introduction may
end with an overview of the organization of the report. The student has
to do some personal research to find material for the introduction.
Example: The emission spectrum of atoms is a unique tool for the identification of
elements in distant stars.... (Give some more information about it here). A detail study
of the spectrum can also give information about in interactions of the atom inside a
solid... (Some examples). A careful analysis of individual lines in the spectrum reveals
information about interactions within the atom itself, the hyperfine splitting is due to
interaction between the electrons and the nucleus and the fine splitting is due to the
spin angular momentum of the electron. In the present report the fine splitting of the
orange line of sodium is investigated. In the first part of the report an overview of the
theory of the emission spectrum and of the fine splitting is given, in the second part the
fine splitting is measures using a grating spectrometer and in the third part a critical
analysis of the results and the methodology is given.
It is important to leave a margin of freedom to the student for the starting point of the
introduction. For example, the introduction to the same report in the example above

109
could be started by talking about the orange color of the street lights... The important
point to be taught here is: start from any general statement and end on the specifics of
the report.
 Theory section: the content and the extent of this section depend on the
particular experiment. However, a theory section must always start with
the basic physical principles involved in the experiment then proceed to
derive the equations as they are used in the analysis of the data and
finally explain how the required information is obtained from the
analysis.
Example1: If the aim of the experiment is to measure the time constant of an RC
circuit then the theory section may start from the differential equation for the current
then solve the equation, linearize the equation and finally obtain the time constant from
the slope of the linearized equation.
Example2: In an experiment to measure (e/m) the theory can start from the
electrostatic and magnetic forces on a moving electron and end on how the ratio (e/m)
is derived from the quantities actually measured in the experiment.
In summary, the theory section must not be just a relevant paragraph
from a text book it must explain how the required information is
obtained from the data.

 The experimental section: Depending on the type of experiment this

section may be divided into an apparatus section and a procedure
section. The student must learn to take that decision and justify his/her
choice. This section must always contain a diagram (not a photo) of the
experimental setup. The student must write a paragraph giving the
description and the function of the various parts of the apparatus.
 The data section: The student has to decide on what data needs to be
included in the main body of the report, what data should be given in an
appendix and what data does not need to be given at all. The student has
to decide in what format the data should be presented, tables, graphs or
in few sentences. The student should discuss his/her choices with the
instructor.
Example: In an experiment to measure the acceleration of gravity
using a simple pendulum one may write: For each value of the length L the
period was measured 20 times. The average value of the period T for each value of L is
given in table 1 and the graph of L versus T2 is presented in figure3. In this
example the individual data are not given; the averages for
different lengths are tabulated and the relation between period
and length is given as a graph.
 The data analysis section: This section gives the details of the
calculations and discusses the uncertainty estimation. This section must
end with a summary of the numerical results.
 A discussion section should be included only when there is something to
discuss such as a critique of the procedure, a limitation on the resolution
of the apparatus, emphasizing how the procedure used has made it

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 possible to improve on the accuracy of the measurement etc.

NB. The data section, data analysis section and discussion section are usually
grouped under one big section (Results, Analyses and Discussion) with
subsections if necessary.

 The conclusion states if the aims of the experiment were achieved,

summarizes the main numerical results and gives brief comments as
appropriate.

General rules on the presentation of a report

The general presentation of the report is important; instructors must not accept an
untidy report. If the report is unacceptable the student should be given the option to redo
it. Writing must be neat, with graphs and figures well presented. The report should have
a cover page giving the title of the experiment, the date, the name of the student and the
abstract. The following is a non exhaustive list of points the students must learn.
 All figures, graphs and tables must be numbered and mentioned in the
text.
 All tables, figures and graphs must have a legend/caption.
 The scale of the axis on the graphs must be such that the data fills the
whole figure.
 The axis of the graphs must be labeled with the appropriate units given.
 References must be quoted in the text by a number in brackets where
they are needed and the list of references given at the end of the report.
 There must be a margin on the left hand side of the paper.
 The title of a subsection should not follow immediately after the title of
the section. There must be a leading-in sentence between the title of the
section and the title of the first subsection.

Example of BAD:
2. Theory
2.1 Diffraction by a single slit
Example of GOOD:
2. Theory
In this section we review the basic theory of diffraction. We discuss first the diffraction
by a single slit and then present the theory of the diffraction grating.
2.1 Diffraction by a single slit
 Similarly, a table or a graph should not follow immediately after the title
of the section. There must be a leading-in sentence between the title of
the section and the graph or table.
 Numbered lists must be avoided, the students must write sentences:

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 Example of BAD:
The instrument consists of:
1. A lamp
2. A collimator
3. A grating
4. A telescope
Example of GOOD:
The light source used in the experiment is a low pressure mercury vapor discharge
lamp. After collimation the parallel beam of light is incident normal to the plane of the grating at the
centre of the spectrometer table. The diffracted beans are observed with a telescope equipped with a fine
crossed hair. The position of the telescope can be measured with a resolution of 30” of arc.

Workshop
The course PHYS3005 has a workshop component. The aim of this component is to
introduce the students to basic wood workshop skills. The session is conducted by the
technical staff in charge of the workshop. The content of the session is to be defined
jointly by the academic and the technical staff. The grading of the students’
performance is done by the academic staff based on the input/report from the
technician.

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