CENTER OF GRAVITY APPARATUS

STUDENT NAME - PRESVIN VINOD PASSPORT NO. - H1428404 STUDENT NO. - 10044584 INSTRUCTOR NAME - DEWIKA NAIDU

2/23/2012

OBJECTIVE To establish the position of the center of gravity of several different shapes by experiment and to confirm with values derived from calculus or reference book. EQUIPMENT LS 12039 Center Of Gravity Apparatus, flat shapes, weighted cords with plumb-bob, ruler and marker pen. THEORY Center of gravity A body is composed of an infinite number of particle of different size, and so if the body is located within a gravitational field,then each of these particles will have weight .These weights form an approximately parallel force system, and the resultant of this system is the total weight of the body, which passes through a single point called the center of gravity.

Composite bodies A composite body consist of a series of connected simpler shaped bodies, which may be rectangular, triangular, semicircular, etc. Such a body can often be sectioned or divided into composite parts and ,provided the weight and location of center of gravity of each of these parts known, we can then eliminate the need for integration to determine the center of gravity of the entire body.Formula rather than account for an infinite number of differential weights we have instead a finite number of weights.

Here x,y,z represent the coordinate of center of gravity G of the composite body . x,y,z represent the coordinate of the center of gravity of each composite parts of the body W is the sum of all weigts of all composite parts of the body or simply the total weight of the body. The centroid of composite lines, areas and volumes can be found analogous to the above equation, however by replacing the Ws by Ls ,As, and Vs.

METHODOLOGY Select a particular flat shape to determine its center of gravity. Suspend the object on the pin provide on the gravity apparatus board. Then suspend the weighted cord with the plumb-bob on the same pin and observe the line of action. Using a marker pen mark the upper most, middle and the lower most point of the suspended cord which would be later used to draw a line. Repeat the above two steps by changing the points of the object to be suspended on the pin so that different lines of action can be obtained. Repeat the experiment to obtain center of gravity for other flat shapes. Note down the center of gravity of the object from the base of each flat shape.

RESULTS

1. EQULATERAL TRIANGLE a. b. y 35.07cm 35.5cm 12 cm x 40.5cm

40.5cm a. Center of gravity found during experiment is 12 cm

b. Center of gravity found after calculation or theoretical method is 11.67 This result was obtained using The percentage of error between the theoretical and experimental result a is 2.75 % .

2. SEMI CIRCLE a. 37.1cm 36.5cm 40cm 8cm x b.

y b

a. The center of gravity by experimental was (20,8) b. By using the formula of center of gravity of composite body we have AREA cm 314 X cm 20 Y cm 8.49 xA cm 6283.2 yA cm 2667.2

(using Area instead of W) X = 20 cm Y= 8.49cm The percentage of error between the experimental and theoretical result is 5.8 %

x 3. CIRCLE a. 17.5cm b.

y 35.5cm 17.5

17.5cm 35.5cm

a. b.

The center of gravity by experimental was (17.5,17.5) By using the formula of center of gravity of composite body we have

AREA cm 962.113

X cm 17.5

Y cm 17.5

xA cm 16837

yA cm 16837

(using Area instead of W) X = 17.5 cm Y= 17.5cm The percentage of error between the experimental and theoretical result is 0% 4

4. L Shape

36.1cm 38.8cm 38cm

8cm

35cm 16.7 cm

a. By The experimental we can conclude that the center of gravity of this shape is 13.5 cm . b. The values calculated by the experiment is 23.5 this could be because of inappropriate use of the equipment for achieving the center of gravity .

5. T SHAPE y 35 cm 8cm 10..4cm 13.5cm 27cm x 8cm 1 2 3 4

(Using the same dimensions of the shape in Cartesian Coordinate for calculation) a. b. The center of gravity by experimental was (17.3cm,8.6cm) By using the formula of center of gravity of composite body we have

AREA cm -364.5 216 -364.5 280 =-233

X cm 6.75 17.5 28.25 17.5

Y cm 13.5 13.5 13.5 31

xA cm -2460.38 3780.00 10297.1 4900.00

yA cm 4920.75 2916.00 4920.75 8960.00

=4077.48 =2034.5

(using Area instead of W) X = 17.49 cm Y= 8.36 cm The percentage of error between the experimental and theoretical result is 1.1% in x axis and 2.7% in yaxis

x 6. TRAPEZIUM

28.5cm

25cm

28.5cm

25cm y

40cm

26cm

(Using the same dimensions of the shape in Cartesian Coordinate for calculation) a. b. The center of gravity by experimental was (25cm,11.6cm) By using the formula of center of gravity of composite body we have

AREA cm 650 175 =-825

X cm 13 34.33

Y cm 12.5 8.33

xA cm 8450 6007.75 =14457

yA cm 8125 1457.75 =9582.75

(Using Area instead of W weight) X = 17.5 cm Y= 11.6 cm The percentage of error between the experimental and theoretical result is 30% in x axis and 0.8% in yaxis DISCUSSION SOURCES OF ERROR There could be random error caused due to the air resistance effecting the suspended bob from its actual position. There could be parallax error caused while measuring and taking down the length of flat shape and also the measurement of center of gravity. There could be error when tracing the suspended bob on the flat shape, as this may differ from actual position of the suspended thread . There could be fault in the apparatus leading to systematic error. The marker pen used on the flat also adds to the sources of error because the line drawn is thick having its own width. There could be error caused by the thread suspending bob as it could be elastic.

OTHER OBSEVATION The error in the simple composite body like triangle, sphere , and semicircle have the least amount of error. But as the composite body becomes complex the error increase. Which can be seen in T shape and the L shape.

CONCLUSION The experiment could be improved by placing an carbon paper on the flat shape and pressing the suspended cord against it. This would reduce the parallax error and the error caused with the usage of marker pen on the flat shape. There could be more no. of reading taken to get a more precise result with minimal error Thread used should not be elastic so that a better and a more accurate result could be obtained.