INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS PRACTICAL WORK
Experience
A scale repairer wants to replace a defective spring in a scale. The spring must have a stiffness constant \( k=(3.00 \pm 0.05) N/m \) and a negligible mass. In his workshop, he found a spring of negligible mass but its stiffness constant is unknown.
Using Hook's Law : \( F=k \times d \) , where \( F \) represents the force applied to the spring, \( k \) the stiffness constant and \( d \) the elongation, he was able to calculate the value of \( k \) . As a result, he hung different masses on the spring and measured its elongation. Hook's law simplifies to :
\( d= \frac{g}{k} m \) (1)
The measurements are reported in the table below.
Questions
- By comparing the physical equation (1) with the mathematical formula \( y=bx \) , establish the following identifications :
\( x= .....................\), \( y= ..................... \) , \( b= ..................... \) - Complete the table below :
- Give the numerical values of the following quantities with their corresponding units :
\( b= .................... \) , \( \Delta d=.................... \) , \( \Delta b=.................... \) . - On the same graph sheet, represent the experimental points \( d=f(m) \), the error bars as well as the line of slope \(b\).
- Calculate the spring stiffness constant and put it in the form \( k=(............. \pm .............) .... \).
- Can the repairer replace the defective spring ? Explain. We give : \(g = 9.81 m/s^2 \).
i | \( m_i (kg) \) | \( d_i(m) \) | \( m_i d_i (…) \) | \( m_i^2 (…) \) | \( bm_i(…) \) | \( (d_i-bm_i )^2(…) \) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0.010 | 0.03290 | ||||
2 | 0.020 | 0.06650 | ||||
3 | 0.040 | 0.13280 | ||||
4 | 0.060 | 0.19940 | ||||
5 | 0.080 | 0.26590 | ||||
\( n=... \) |
\( \sum_{i=1}^{n} m_i d_i \) \(= ....................\) |
\( \sum_{i=1}^{n} m_i^2 \) \(= ....................\) |
\( \sum_{i=1}^{n} (d_i-bm_i )^2 \) \(= ....................\) |