John Capps

Rodney Pujada
TraVaughn Montgomery

Experiment 4 Lab Report

Objective:
The purpose of this experiment is to practice the addition of vectors graphically and
analytically and to compare the results obtained by these two methods.

Apparatus:
The Cenco force table with pulleys was used in this experiment. We also used metal
rings, strings, weight hangers and weights, a ruler and a protractor. The force table
allowed us to apply known forces at several points in various directions.

Theory:
According to Newtons 1st Law of Motion an object will remain at rest or a constant
velocity if no net forces are acting on the object. In this state the object is in
translational equilibrium.

Procedure:
In this experiment, our team placed Pulley 1, Pulley 2, and Pulley 3 at the 0, 150,
and 300 degrees angles respectively. Then weights where added to the end of the
pulleys until we were able to get the metal ring positioned directly in the center of
the force table.

Determination of the Resultant Force:

Graphical Method
The resultant for was determined graphically by using a head-to-tail diagram. The
diagram was consistent with what the theory stated. The net force appeared to be
zero.

Analytical Method:
Based on the results from the experiment, we got the following components of the
three forces:
F1x= 0.588 and F1y = 0
F2x = -0.818 and F2y = 0.49
F3x = 0.289 and F3y = 0.500
The resultant forces were Rx = 0.029 and Ry = -0.01. The magnitude of the resultant
force was

|R| = (0.029 2 + (-0.01)2) = 0.031 N. Though this number was

not zero, which was expected, it was very close to the theoretical prediction. The
direction in which our resultant acted was
= arctan(-0.01/0.029) = -19.0 from the positive x-axis.

Error Analysis of Results:

To determine the error in our resultant, we compared the ratio of our resultant with
the average of the magnitudes of the three forces in our experiment. The
magnitude of F1 = 0.588 N, F2 = 0.98 N, and F3=0.578 N. The average of the forces
is 0.72 N. The ratio of our resultant and the average is 0.031N/0.72N = 4.3%