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FOR TEACHING PHYSICS

Column Editor: Karl C. Mamola, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608; mamolakc@appstate.edu

Demonstrating Normal Forces with Kitchen Scales

Vassilis Stavrinidis, The Moraitis School, A. Papanastasiou & Ag. Dimitriou, Athens
15452, Greece

way to demonstrate normal forces using a precision laboratory electronic balance has been reported in this magazine.1 I propose here a simpler and less expensive way of demonstrating normal forces. We use an ordinary kitchen scale. Because of the low cost, several of these devices can be purchased for this demonstration, and students can explore the resolution of forces in a hands-on way.

Fig. 1. Kitchen scales as an inclined plane.

A few minor modifications facilitate the demonstration. Replace the pan of the kitchen scale with a rectangular piece of plywood, and mount the base of the scale on another piece of plywood (see Fig. 1). For the test body, we modified a toy car so it can carry different weights. Start with the apparatus in a horizontal position and have your students focus their attention on the reading, which is in fact the upward force, FN, that the horizontal plane exerts on the test body to counterbalance its weight, W. Then raise one end of the plywood base to create an inclined plane. It is important to

check the zero reading for the inclined position before the car is placed on the scale. Use some stick n fix or tacky tape to hold the car in place. The new FN counterbalances the component of the weight of the car normal to the plane, Wy, and verifies the predicted value that FN = W cos . The angle of inclination, , can be measured with a protractor as described by Mitschele and Muscato1 or by measuring the sides of the triangle below the scales. In the latter case, students get the values of cos and sin directly. It is interesting to demonstrate the dependence of FN on the inclination . This is obviously done by slowly tilting the base of the scales. Going a step further, have students connect the car to a spring balance parallel to the inclined plane. Now the other component of the weight, Wx, can be measured. Students can calculate that Wx2 + Wy2 = W2. Typical problems that can be solved with the setup are shown in Fig. 2. All these cases and many more can be examined directly by students using inexpensive kitchen scales. In our lab, both analog and digital kitchen scales are used (with resolutions of 20g and 1g, respectively.) We find it useful to change the readings from kilograms to newtons by

Fig. 2. Typical problems that can be solved with a simple apparatus.

sticking adhesive labels on the analog display or by putting a decimal point on the digital display (so that 0.5 kg or 500 g become 5 N). Weve found that this apparatus provides students with a good link between theoretical calculations made in the classroom and verification in the laboratory. Reference
1. J. Mitschele and M. Muscato, Demonstrating normal forces with an electronic balance, Phys. Teach. 32, 555 (1994).

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THE PHYSICS TEACHER

Vol. 36, Dec. 1998

Apparatus for Teaching Physics