Discussion & Conclusion:
In this experiment we were able to successfully complete the objective set out for us. This was
done by moving the positions of weights on the balancing bar and the fulcrum of the balancing
bar itself. Combining these measurements away from the fulcrum along with the measurements
of the center of mass of the balancing bar, we were able to accurately determine the mass of
keys by the distances away from the fulcrum of the bar the key mass and counterbalance mass
was.
The theory of this lab comes from multiplying the distance away from the fulcrum by the mass
hanging from that distance on both sides of the fulcrum to determine what torque the masses
applied to each side of the fulcrum and ensuring that the two torques were as similar as
possible.
Our results matched the expectation that both sides of the bar’s torque would be roughly equal
to each other when balancing. Also, we were able to calculate the mass of the meter stick using
a known mass and distance away from the fulcrum. The mass we calculated was less than 1
percent off the actual mass of the meter stick.
Some inconsistencies that could’ve occurred in our experiment might come from not measuring
the distance of the weights to the fulcrum properly. Measuring incorrectly would’ve led to our
results being far off what they should’ve been to properly balance the bar. However, it doesn’t
seem like we made this mistake as the percent difference between the expected values and the
actual values were quite low. Which means that our results are very accurate.