ANALYSIS

The physics of motion is all about forces. Forces need to act upon an
object to get it moving, or to change its motion. Everything in the universe
moves that is why motion is fascinating. Motion is one of the key topics in
physics because the movement of everything never really stops. Even if an
object is still, the earth is moving around the sun, and the sun is moving
around our galaxy. A very common vector quantity is force. Force is any
interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. In
other words, a force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity.
Force makes things move or, more accurately, makes things change their
motion.
Physical quantities are properties of an object that can be measured
with a measuring instrument like weight, length, time, width, etc. The
underlying concepts and principles of Physics have a mathematical basis.
The mathematical quantities that are used to describe the motion of objects
can be divided into two categories. The quantity is either a vector or a scalar.
Vector quantities have two characteristics, a magnitude and a direction.
Scalar quantities have only a magnitude. When comparing two vector
quantities of the same type, you have to compare both the magnitude and the
direction. For scalars, you only have to compare the magnitude.

The single vector which effect is the as of vectors when added is

called a resultant. We will be able to calculate the magnitude and direction
of the resultant vector on the force table by examining the equilibriant,
which is a single force that establishes equilibrium by balancing two or more
forces. So, the equilibriant has the same magnitude, but opposite direction as
the resultant. In order determine the resultant, it may be obtained by using
either Graphical Method or Analytical Method. In the graphical method it is
important to draw the length of a line to scale also, the magnitude and the
direction of the resultant are measured using a ruler and a protractor,
therefore, it is crucial to be precise in measuring length of lines. This method
includes the parallelogram and the polygon method.

In Graphical method, the parallelogram method is only applicable

to two vectors. In this method, a parallelogram is drawn with the diagonal
line in between the two vectors, representing the resultant force.

R
F2

F1

Figure 1

Additionally, the polygon method can used if there are more than
two forces. The arrows representing the forces are connected headed-to-
tail. The resultant is drawn from the tail of the first vector to the head of the
last vector. Figure 2 shows the resultant R is drawn from the begginning of
the first vector F1 to the end of the last vector F3.
 F3

R F2

F1

Figure 2

Analytical method is a more reliable and way in finding the resultant

vector is by using the Component method where the vector components of
the individual vectors being added are perpendicular to one another by
obtaining all the x-components and y-components, . The
Pythagorean Theorem is used to find the resultant of the vectors.

The method for vector addition includes finding the orthogonal

components of each vector and adding so that the components of the
resultant vector R is related to the components of the individual vectors A,
B, etc., in the following way:
= F1x + F2x + ... + Fnx
= F1y + F2y + ... + Fny
where N is the total number of forces acting on the object. The magnitude of
the
resultant vector is
= ( )2 + ( )2

and the angle between the vector R and the x-axis is

= 1 ( )

In addition to Component method, Triangle method uses sine and cosine
law, only two foces may be added at a time.

2 = 12 + 22 21 2 cos (cosine law)

1 2
= =
sin sin 1 sin 2

We started with Experiment 101: Resolution of Forces where we analyzed

the component of force and compare the methods involved in determining
the resultant and the equilbiriant of the system of forces. In order for the
experiment to run smoothly, we must comprehend the procedures that were
given in the manual. The objectives of Experiment No. 101 are:

To determine the resultant force of concurrent forces using the

Graphical and Analytical method.
To determine the first condition of equilibrium and its implications.
To differentiate scalar from vector quantities and compare resultant
from equilibriant.

To start of the experiment, we used the materials given to us by our

professor, this included: force table, super pulleys with clamp, mass hangers,
slotted mass, and a protractor . For equipment care, Extra care should be
given on the super pulleys to avoid damages. The goal is find the
equilibriant in order to know what the resultant of the three vector is.
According to Newtons second law, an object that is not accelerating must
have no net force, i.e. the sum of the vectors of the forces on that object must
be zero.
 The first procedure is to set up the Force Table Apparatus shown in the
manual. A force board has three or more cables attached to a center ring.
The cables exert forces upon the center ring in three different direction. As
shown in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1

The second procedure is to attach a hanger at the end of each string that
passes over a frictionless pulley and arbitrarily suspend a mass on each
hanger. By attaching a hanger at the end of each string, we were able to
position the mass.

The third procedure is by trial and error. We were able to locate the ring
at the center of the force table by adjusting the angle of the strings or vary
the load on the hanger. It is important to be meticulous in this procedure and
requires patience in order to get the exact loaded mass and angle for the ring
to set on the center of the force table.

The fourth procedure is to pull the string lightly to one side and then
release. Then afterwards, observe if the ring returns to the center. If this does
not happen, it is important to return to the trial and error procedure and
adjust the position or load of one string if balance is difficult to obtain.
 FIGURE 2

Once balance is obtained, the fifth procedure is to record the mass on each
string and its angle as 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 1 , 2 , 3 & 4 respectively as shown
in Table 1.

The sixth procedure is to determine the resultant of 1 , 2 , 3 using

the polygon method and the component method, using the scale to be used
given by our professor. Then compare the result to 4 .

The last procedure requires to perform the procedures 1-6, this time,
by using different loaded mass on the hangers or different angles for the
strings.

TRIAL 1:

%
MASS ANGLE 102.9 102
1 = 60g =| | 100
1 = 0 102.9
= 0.87%
2 = 30g 2 = 45
3 = 40g 3 = 300
= 102.9g = 353 352
% = | | 100
Table 1 Trial 1 353
= 0.28%
POLYGON METHOD:

F2 F3
F1

R =102g
=

COMPONENT METHOD

= = 1 + 2 + 3

= 600 + 3045 + 40300

= 101.21

= = 1 + 2 + 3

= 600 + 3045 + 40300

= 13.43

2
= ( )2 + ( )

= (101.21)2 + (13.43)2

= .

= tan1 ( ) = 7.56 352.44

 102.9 102.9
% = | | 100 = 0.00%
102.9

353 352.44
% = | | 100 = 0.16%
353

In trial 1, based on the Force Table, weve got 173 with the mass of 102g

and upon solving for the most accurate masses and angles, the methods

Polygon and Component has been used. Based on the Polygon method, the

mass that has been measured is 102g with an angle of 352. The percentage

error for the resultant and angle in Polygon method is 0.87% and 0.28%

respectively. Moving on to Component method, which produced the

resultant as 102.09g with an angle of 352.44.The percentage error for the

resultant and the angle in Component method is 0.00% and 0.16%

respectively.

TRIAL 2: %
75.10 75
MASS ANGLE =| | 100
75.10
1 = 20g 1 = 10 = 0.13%
2 = 60g 2 = 70
3 = 30g 3 = 320 %
210 214
= 75.10g = =| | 100
210
Table 2 Trial 2 = 1.90%
POLYGON METHOD:

F3
F2

F1 R =75g

COMPONENT METHOD

= = 1 + 2 + 3

= 2010 + 6070 + 30320

= 63.2

= = 1 + 2 + 3

= 2010 + 6070 + 30320

= 40.57

2
= ( )2 + ( )
 = (63.2)2 + (40.57)2

= .

= tan1 ( ) = 32.70 212.7

75.10 75.10
% = | | 100 = 0.00%
75.10

210 212.17
% = | | 100 = 1.03%
210

In trial 2, based on the Force Table, weve got 210 with the mass of

75.10g and upon solving for the most accurate masses and angles, the

methods Polygon and Component has been used. Based on the Polygon

method, the mass that has been measured is 75g with an angle of 124. The

percentage error for the resultant and angle in Polygon method is 0.00% and

1.90% respectively. Moving on to Component method, which produced the

resultant as 75.10g with an angle of 212.7.The percentage error for the

resultant and the angle in Component method is 0.00% and 1.03%

respectively.

According to our calculations, the highest percentage error that we

have acquired is 1.91% which was from the second trial at the polygon
method. A factor that might have affected the data is when measuring the
angle or the mass slot, it should be carefully looked upon and be sought
throughly because a single decimal place can greatly affect when it comes to
computing There are numerous factors that can be found, one must be
careful in gathering data in order for the computations to be accurate.

CONCLUSION

Based on the experiment, the resultant force can be determined using

Graphical method (ploygon method) and Analytical method (component
method) and also by using the force table. The accuracy of the three methods
are quite high. The graphical method is the most accurate in determining the
resultant while the analytical method is the best of the three in finding the
direction because of its low percentage error. Force is classified as a vector
quantity because it is a quantity that has both direction and magnitude. The
resultant obtained is always opposite in direction to the equilibrant but the
same in magnitude. this experiment demonstrates the addition of forces by
using degrees to calculate the direction, and a weight to calculate the
magnitude. By using these tools, we can add the forces, and find the
equilibrant. All of these results are seen on the visual force table.

The resultant of the first three vectors (F1, F2 and F3) is being
balanced by F4 which is the equilibrant. Equilibrant is simply the opposite of
the resultant that has the ability to balance the system. The ring should also
be at the center of the table, because it indicates that the set up is in the state
of equilibrium, meaning the sum of the force acting on the ring is zero. We
can compute the resultant which is being balance by the equilibrant, opposite
of resultant. Although the mass hangers are equal in mass they are differ in
total mass, which means that the mass hanger contributes differently in the
total amount of mass in each hanger. So it can be concluded that this method
of calculating vectors is accurate. Possible sources of error include friction
and weight of the string

Although it can be obvious, but I realized that changing the order of vectors
does not affect the resultant. F1+F2+F3 is equal to F3 +F2+F1 because the
forces acting on the vectors and their direction is the same and it yields the
same resultant, meaning either way we will obtain the same amount of
resultant.