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Rotational Motion Lab Report

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ROTATIONAL MOTION Lab Report #6 April 25, 2019 ENGR/PHYS 216 - Section 216 Team 2 College of Engineering Texas A&M University Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for ENGR/PHYS 216 (Experimental Physics and Engineering Lab - Mechanics) Team 2 1Abstract In this experiment, the center of mass of various shapes was determined using the vertical lines technique. Then the center of mass was proven by verifying its motion was rotating around the center of mass. In the second part of this lab, conservation of angular momentum was tested by placing a weight on a spinning mass. This information was also used to find the moment of inertia for each shape as well. 1. Introduction In this lab, students were required to find the center mass and moment of inertia of differently shaped wooden boards. The center of masses were found using the vertical lines technique and then verified by tracking the rotation of the object. Then, conservation of angular momentum was proven by dropping a weight on the spinning object and calculating the final angular momentum. Finally, the moment of inertia of another board was calculated using the fact that angular momentum was conserved. Jetson software was used to collect and store data from a camera, which measured vectors of position, velocity, and acceleration. 2. Purpose The purpose of this experiment was to determine the center of mass of several boards, as well as their moment of inertias for each shape and prove that angular momentum was conserved. The team was commissioned by PELA to test whether or not angular momentum was going to be conserved on the new planet. 3. Background The lab involved several basic physics principles. The first of which was the conservation of angular momentum. Due to the absence of external torque, it can be assumed that angular momentum is conserved. Therefore, we applied the following equation: To prove conservation of angular momentum on the fixed L shape, the equation above was applied to the conditions and formulated the following equation. If angular momentum is conserved, both sides of the equation should be (reasonably) equal. To solve for the inertia for the fixed pentagon shape, the same formula was applied for conservation of angular momentum. However, in this case the equation was used specifically to solve for the unknown inertia of shape, as follows: 4. Experimental Setup and Procedure The center of mass was found by the vertical lines method. As shown in Figures 1-8, a small, 20 g mass was tied to the end of a string. The end of the string with no mass attached was tied to a screw and inserted into one of the holes in the boards. The center of mass was found by allowing the mass to drop. The board was then rotated until the string was perpendicular to the ground. Lines were drew on the board

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