THE UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
COURSE NAME: PHYSICS PRACTICAL III

COURSE CODE: PH 2106

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: MR. MPANGO

EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 07

TITTLE OF EXPRIMENTE: TO VERIFY THE PRINCIPLLE OF MOMENTS USING A

SUSPENDED METER RULER AND ATTACHED WEIGHT

NAME OF STUDENT: MAGESA JUMA YAHAYA

REGISTRATION NUMBER: T23-03-19803

DEGREE PROGRAM: BED SC ICT

NATURE OF WORK: INDIVIDUAL LAB REPORT

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2024/2025

CONDUCTION DATE:17/January/2025

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 24/January /2025

PARTICIPANTS DETAILS

S/N NAME OF STUDENT REG NUMBER DEG PROG SIGN

1 ESTERIA K LUZUGA T23-03-20000 BED- SC ICT

2 BENARD K. LAURENT T23-03-19248 BED PSY

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 Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 2
THEORY ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................... 6
DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 8
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 9
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 10
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 11

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 ABSTRACT
The aim of the experiment was to plan and to carry out experiment to verify the principle of
moment by using the meter rule and attached weight, the experiment was taken in a room
temperature, a meter rule was placed on the pivot in order to determine the balancing point
where the pivot will be placed, one side of the meter rule a mass of 100g was hanged at a
distance of 10cm from the pivot and on the other side a mass of 150g was adjusted until it
balanced horizontally, the two masses was increased by the interval of 50g to obtain the other
more six (6) readings. And the position of first mass which initially was at 10cm, also per each
mass increased also the length was increased by the interval of 10cm, now the corresponding
length was easily obtained, and in fact the clockwise moment was extremely the same as ant-
clockwise moment, therefore the principle of moment was verified.

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 INTRODUCTION

The principle of moments is derived from Archimedes' discovery of the operating principle of
the lever. In the lever one applies a force, in his day most often human muscle, to an arm, a beam
of some sort. Archimedes noted that the amount of force applied to the object, the moment of
force, is defined as the product of force and its perpendicular distance; M = F x d, where F is the
applied force, and d is the distance from the applied force to object. The word moment was first
used in Mechanics in its now rather old-fashioned sense of 'importance' or 'consequence,' and the
moment of a force about an axis meant the importance of the force with respect to its power to
generate in matter rotation about the axis. Centre of gravity of an object is the point through
which the total weight of the body can be considered to act. the principle of moments can be
stated as follows:

“When a body is in equilibrium the sum of the clockwise moments about any point equals
the sum of the anticlockwise moments about the same point”
Balancing the rule is easier if the masses are only about small distance from the pivot A moment
is a mathematical expression involving the product of a distance and physical quantity. Moments
are usually defined with respect to a fixed reference point and refer to physical quantities located
some distance from the reference point. In this way, the moment accounts for the quantity's
location or arrangement. For example, the moment of force, often called torque, is the product of
a force on an object and the distance from the reference point to the object. Commonly used
quantities include forces, masses, and electric charge distributions. When undoing a nut fastened
to a screw by hand one realizes that the amount of force required is a lot greater than when
undoing the same nut using a spanner. The spanner increases the distance between the fulcrum
and the line of action of the force, thus for the same force a greater moment is obtained. The
principle of moments states that when in equilibrium the total sum of the anti-clockwise moment
is equal to the total sum of the clockwise moment. When a system is stable or balance it is said to
be in equilibrium as all the forces acting on the system cancel each other out.

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 THEORY

A moment is an expression involving the product of force and its perpendicular distance.
Moments are usually defined with respect to a fixed reference point; they deal with physical
quantities located at some distance relative to that reference point.

Example, the moment of force, often called torque, is the product of a force on an object and the
distance from the reference point to the object. In principle, any physical quantity can be
multiplied by a distance to produce a moment. Commonly used quantities include forces, masses,
and electric charge distributions.

Then we can define moment as a measure of a force's tendency to cause a body to rotate about a
specific point or axis. The Principle of Moments states that when a body is balanced, the total
clockwise moment about a point equals the total anticlockwise moment about the same point.
Moment is a measure of a force's tendency to cause a body to rotate about a specific point or
axis.

Consider the sketch below:

Mathematically, moment of forces can be expressed as:

The moment = the size of the force (N) multiplied by the length of the lever (m).
Moment = Force x Distance

The SI unit of moment is Newton meter (Nm)

The force of gravity acts on all bodies on earth. Every bit of mass in the body has weight. The
whole weight seems to be concentrated inside or outside the body. This point is the centre of
gravity of the body. The weight of a body or object acts through its centre of gravity.

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Definition: Centre of gravity of an object is the point through which the total weight of the
body can be considered to act.
The center of gravity of all bodies can be determined by balancing the body on a knife edge or
by suspension with a plumb line from several points.

A meter rule has a uniform shape and a constant density and so the center of gravity will be a
point exactly in the middle of the rule (at the 50 cm mark).

In most cases, the Centre of gravity of a body lies in the body itself, but in few cases such as the
horse-shoe magnet, the retort stand, Bunsen burner, wine glass and conical flask, the Centre of
gravity lies outside.

For Centre of gravity outside the body itself, the body will balance at any point on it which lies
along a vertical line passing through the Centre of the body.

Definition of the Principle of Moments: ‘When a body is in equilibrium, the sum of the
anticlockwise moment about any point is equal to the sum of the clockwise moments about
that point’.

If a meter rule is balanced horizontally at any point, this means that the clockwise moments
and the anticlockwise moments must be equal.

An object is said to be in equilibrium when it is balanced and not turning or moving when and
when there is no force applied to the object, or the sum of the clockwise moments about a point
is equal to the sum of the anticlockwise moments about the point.

Alternatively, the principle of moments can be stated as follows:

“When a body is in equilibrium the sum of the clockwise moments about any point equals
the sum of the anticlockwise moments about the same point”

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This can be summarized as:
CM = ACM
F1 × X1 = F2 × X2

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 METHODOLOGY
S/N APPARATUS DIAGRAM USES
01 Uniform meter rule The meter rule served as a pivot or
fulcrum, with a 50 cm mark
connected to the retort stand using a
thread. This allowed the rule to
balance horizontally during the
experiment.

02 Retort stand The retort stand provided stability

and support for the meter rule,
ensuring it remained horizontal
during the experiment.
04 Twelve 50 g slotted These masses were used in various
masses combinations and distances to test
the Principle of Moments.

05 Three lengths string The string was used to connect the

masses to the meter rule, allowing
for precise positioning and
measurements.

Experimental setup

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Procedures

a) A meter rule was suspended at its 50cm mark and it was ensured that it balanced
horizontally with a 50cm mark acting as a pivot.
b) A mass, m1 was again suspended from the lefthand side of the ruler at the distance d1
from the 50cm mark to its point of suspension. The distance d1 was recorded together
with its mass m2 in a suitable table.
c) Moreover, a second mass, m2 was also suspended from the righthand side of the pivot.
This mass, m2 was carefully moved back and forth until the meter rule balanced
horizontally from which the distance d2 was recorded from the pivot to its point of
suspension.
d) The observed distance, d2 was recorded in cm along with its mass, m2 in kg in a tabular
form.
e) The above procedures were repeated six more times using different masses and from
which the turning forces, F1, and F2, were calculated using the formula W = Mg.
f) Finally, the clockwise and anticlockwise moments were calculated using the formula,
M =F x d in each case.

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 DATA ANALYSIS
The Anticlockwise moments were calculated by using the formula:

Anticlockwise moments = F1d1

By using the data measured

The sum of anticlockwise moments = (13+35.5+44+50+51+60)

= 253.25 N.cm

The sum of clockwise moments = (11.25+35+45+50+50+60)N.cm

= 251.25 N.cm

Then, from the principle of moments,

Sum of Anticlockwise moments = Sum of Clockwise Moments

253.25Ncm = 251.25Ncm
Therefore, this experiment obeys the principle of moment state that the moment of clockwise
equal to the moment of anticlockwise

But the value are not completely the same due to the different errors such as

1. The mass of the string was not considered but would have affected overall results.
2. The newton rule was not completely accurate. Thus, I should have used two and averaged
the results.
3. Parallax error could have occurred during measurements and readings.

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 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
From the data obtained, the sum of anticlockwise moments and clockwise moments calculated
were 253.25Ncm and 251.25Ncm respectively. From this experiment the results obtained
include distance d1 ,turning forces F1 in N and the moment in Ncm for clockwise moment
likewise for ant- clockwise the same result s including the turning forces F2 in N ,distance d2 in
cm and the moment in Ncm were obtained the moment for both clockwise and ant- clockwise
were obtained by multiply the turning forces and the distance obtained ,the moment for both
clockwise and ant- clockwise obtained were not very close to each other and this was due to
some errors such as the presence of wind as well as the failure to balance the meter rule .

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 CONCLUSION
Moment of a force depends on both the magnitudes of applied forces and the distance of of line
of action of force from the axis of rotation Moment of force is equal to the sum of the moment of
the components of the force after we carried out the experiment. So, the principle of moment was
achieved. The principle of moment for parallel and non-parallel forces was verified, to achieve
the principle of moment we must find out the pivot point of the meter ruler before the suspension
of masses /weights so we should ensure the pivot bar is in balance before we added the load. The
ratio of force and the ratio of distance must be equal after calculating them because the moment
of clockwise equal to the moment of anticlockwise. when carrying the experiment, we should
avoid the parallax error while measure the distance using a ruler. At the end of this experiment,
the students should be able to display basic skills and knowledge of principle of moments using
laboratory equipment from our experiment we observed that there were some sources of error
such as bending of the meter rule when masses were suspended for long period of time, parallax
error and air resistances which made difficult to obtain the balancing point of the meter ruler in
order to avoid this error occurred there some precaution which can be taken such as avoid
parallax error by placing both eyes at the measured level. And also, the fan should be switched
off to ensure no external environment interferes with the result. Therefore, in advice it’s better
for students to take care of these sources of error so that the aim of the experiment to be achieved
well and being conducted in very conducive environment

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 REFERENCES
1. Halliday, David; Resnick, Robert (1970). Fundamentals of physics. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. pp. 184-185.
2. “Dial Torque Wrenches from Graiger”. Graiger. (2020). Demonstration that, as in most
US industrial settings, the torque ranges are given in ft-Ib rather than Ibf-ft.
3. Serway, R.A & Jewett, Jr. J. W. (2003). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 6th Ed.
Brooks Cole. ISBN 0-534-40842-7.
4. Crew, Henry, Smith, Keith Kuenzi. (1930). Mechanics for Students of Physics and
Engineering. The Macmillan Company, New York. p. 25

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