Complete Experiments: Rotation
Capstone 'EX' experiments include all the apparatus, sensors (when needed), manuals, and PASCO Capstone files you'll need in your student physics lab. For your convenience, we've listed all the downloadable files for each experiment below.
Grade Level: College
Subject: Physics
Activities
01) Static Equilibrium
There are two requirements for an object to be in static equilibrium: The sum of the torques is zero and the sum of the forces is zero. An object is hung from a horizontal meter stick which is suspended from a vertical rod by a string. Summing the torques, the equation is solved for the tension in the string. The tension in the string is also measured directly with the Wireless Force Sensor. By summing the forces, the force at the pivot is determined.
02) Rotational Inertia
The rotational inertia of an object is a measure of how hard it is to rotate the object. The purpose of this experiment is to find the rotational inertia of a ring and a disk experimentally and to verify that these values correspond to the calculated theoretical values. A known torque is applied to the pulley on the Rotary Motion Sensor, causing a disk and ring to rotate. The resulting angular acceleration is measured using the slope of a graph of angular velocity versus time.
03) Rotational Inertia - Wireless
The rotational inertia of an object is a measure of how hard it is to rotate the object. The purpose of this experiment is to find the rotational inertia of a ring and a disk experimentally and to verify that these values correspond to the calculated theoretical values.
04) Centripetal Force on a Pendulum - Wireless
The purpose of this activity is to experimentally measure the centripetal force acting on a pendulum as a function of angular position. The experimentally measured value will be compared to the value predicted by measurements of mass, speed and radius. The Wireless Force Sensor is used to measure the force directly. The Wireless Rotary Motion Sensor is used to measure the angular velocity and angular position of the pendulum as it swings.
05) Torsional Pendulum
The torsional pendulum consists of a torsion wire attached to a Rotary Motion Sensor with an object (a disk, a ring, or a rod with point masses) mounted on top of it. The period of oscillation is measured from a plot of the angular displacement versus time. To calculate the theoretical period, the rotational inertia is determined by measuring the dimensions of the object and the torsional spring constant is determined from the slope of a plot of force versus angular displacement.
06) Conservation of Angular Momentum
A non-rotating ring is dropped onto a rotating disk. The angular speed is measured immediately before the drop and after the ring stops sliding on the disk. The initial angular momentum is compared to the final angular momentum.
08) Centripetal Force
In this activity, students will use a Force Sensor and Photogate to discover the relationship of centripetal force, mass, (tangential) speed and radius for an object in uniform circular motion. Students will determine what happens to centripetal force as the result of changes in mass, speed, and radius.
