LAB REPORT VERYFYING NEWTONS 2ND LAW FOR

ROTATION:
AIM OF THE EXPERIMENT: To verify that Newtons 2nd law for rotation is valid. The purpose of
this experiment is to determine if, within the limits of experimental uncertainty, the measured
rotational acceleration of a rotating disk system is same as theoretical value.
APPARATUS REQUIRED:

1 Rotational Apparatus (Includes rotating disk with spool or spindle attached)

1 mass hanger, 50g
1 rod clamp
1 string
1 meter stick
1 ruler
1 computer-based laboratory system
1 motion sensor
1 motion software
1 electronic balance

THEORY: Using the definition of rotational Inertia I, and spreadsheet calculations we will determine
the theoretical calculation:
I=

1
M r2
2

And using the parameters given in the spreadsheet we calculate the above. After that we use the
Slope of the measured graph and a to calculate the experimental value of I. Using the formula,
I=

m R2 ( ga )

UNCERTAINTY AND ERROR:

DATA ANALYSIS USING UNCERTAINTY:
From spreadsheet we get the range of our values,
Disk:
a=0.7848830.833597 m/s2
=58.908703159.3202969 rad/s2

I experimental=0.0001104640.00011184 kgm2
I theoretical =0.000109622 kgm2
Rod:
a=0.1777830. 188957 m/s2
=12.4259400713.02405993 rad/s2

I experimental=0.0005355670.000561998 kgm2
I theoretical =0. 000495667 kgm2
ERRORS:

Systematic Errors:

Using the floss instead of a string was giving conflicting readings because whenever the floss
got broken the apparatus gave us different set of readings.
Whole apparatus was shaking during the readings so the motion sensor was unable to take
appropriate readings.
Measuring a rubber band is nearly impossible because when you use a vernier calliper to
measure, due to elasticity it either stretches out or shrinks in. So we get a faulty reading.
Measurement of the masses should be done in a closed chamber which was not provided.
Hence a small deviation in reading of mass can change the whole reading.
Motion sensor was not stable or set in a particular place.
Friction of the spool and the string is neglected. String elongation is also neglected.

Random Errors:

Uncertainty in average rotational() and translational(a) acceleration of the rod is

a=0.18337 0.005587 m/s2
=12.725 0.29905993

Uncertainty in average rotational() and translational(a) acceleration of the disk is

a=0. 80924 0. 024357 m/s2
=59.1145 0.2057969

rad/s2

rad/s2

Due to the above small errors it leads to propagation of errors. From the given equation in the
theory we can see the calculation is either multiplication or subtraction. So our final readings
have multiplication propagation of uncertainty and subtraction propagation of uncertainty.
Our experiments error percentage is 1.3938%.

CONCLUSION: Looking through all the the data analysis we can conclude that our Itheoretical
is not in range of uncertainties of Iexperimental. In case of the rod the Itheoretical is 3.99x10-05 kgm2
value less than the lower range of the Iexperimental. And in case of the disk Itheoretical is 8.42x10-07
kgm2 value less than the lower range of Iexperimental. The reason for more Iexperimental can be the
above mentioned errors and the faulty readings leading to faulty calculations. Propagation of
uncertainty is also a major factor to deviate our readings. Finally, we can say that the
experimental values are very near to our theoretical values and error percentage is quite low
(1.3938%) so our experiment was a success.