ALI HASSAN

LAB REPORT
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MES02
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INCLINED PLANE: FORCE

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DATE iOF iSUBMISSION: 15-04-2022

iALONG THE PLANE AND
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iFORCE NORMAL TO THE

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PLANE
MECHANICS 02 i
Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................2
Introduction...................................................................................................2
Theory..........................................................................................................2
Experiment DETAILS....................................................................................4
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Results.........................................................................................................4
Discussion....................................................................................................6
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 7
References...................................................................................................7

1
Abstract
Understanding ithe iexperiment ifocuses ion iidentifying ithe iforces iacting ion ithe islope iand
ithe i objects i within i that iplane. iThe ilength i of ithe iplaner i has i been i steadily ireduced i from i50

icm ito i10 icm, igiving ia i clear iunderstanding iof ithe irelationship ibetween ithe itilt i angle iand

i the iforces iacting ion iit. iDynamometers iare iused ito imeasure ithe ivertical iand iin- iplane

icomponents iof igravity, iand itheir ireadings iare icompared ito ivirtual ivalues iobtained ifrom

icalculations ibased ion i known idata. iIn iour isituation, ithe idefined iexperiment iis icomplete.

iFinding irelative ierrors ifrom iless ithan i20% i (exception ito ifew ivalues) isome ivalues iper

imeasurement ishows ithe iaccuracy iand iaccuracy iwith iwhich ithe iexperiment iwas

iperformed.

Introduction
An iinclined isurface iis ia iplane ithat iis iinclined iat ia icertain iangle. iThis iis ia isimple imachine
ithat ihelps iyou imove iobjects iup iand idown iin ia iconvenient iway. iThere iis ia itrade-off iin

idistance, ialthough iless iforce iis iapplied iwhen ilifting. iUnlike ivertical imovement, iit ihas ia

iwider irange iof imovement, idespite i the ibenefits iof istrength. iWhen iyou iunload iyour

iluggage, iit iwill ifall i more islowly ithan iwhen iyou idrop ia iheavy iobject, imaking iyour iwork

isafer. iDue ito ithese icharacteristics, iwheelchair islopes, istairs, isloping ilanes, iand islopes

iin ithe iform iof islides iare icommon iin ieveryday i life. i [1] iIn ithis iexperiment, itwo iforces

iacting ion ian iobject i(gravitational icomponents) iare imeasured iand icompared i with i the

i calculated iforce.

Theory
At ileast itwo iforces iare ialways iexerted ion ia isloping i(friction-free) iobject. iNormal i force
iperpendicular i to ithe isurface iand idownward igravity. iBy ibreaking idown i gravity iinto

icomponents, iit ibecomes iclear ithat ithe icomponent iperpendicular ito ithe iplane i(equal ito

ithe inormal i force) ipushes ithe iobject iagainst ithe isurface i of ithe iplane, iaccelerating iand

isliding idown ithe i other. i[2] iFigure i (1) ishows ia ifree ibody i representation iof ian iobject ion ian

i inclined isurface.

2
 Picture 1. Free-body diagram
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As ican ibe iseen

𝐹1 = 𝐺 sin 𝛼
i i i i (1)
𝐹2 = 𝐺 cos 𝛼
i i i i (2)
Where iG iis ithe iweight iof ithe iobject ion ithe islope, iα iis ithe iangle iof itilt, iF1 iis ithe iforce
ialong ithe iplane, iand i F2 iis ithe iforce iperpendicular i to ithe iplane. i [3]

By iapplying igeometric iknowledge, ithe itilt iangle ican ibe idetermined ias ifollows:
ℎ
𝛼 = 𝑆𝑖𝑛−1
i i

𝑙 (3)
During ithe iexperiment, ithe ivalue iof iS ichanges ibecause ithe ilength iof ithe ibase ihas
ichanged. iThis idefinitely iaffects ithe iweight icomponent. iUsing ithe idynamometer, ithe

forces iF1 iand iF2 iare iactually idetermined iand icompared ito ithe itrue ivalues i calculated iby
iequations i(1) iand i(2).

Finally, ito ievaluate ithe iaccuracy iof ithe iexperiment iperformed, iwe ineed ito icalculate ithe irelative
i error iusing iequation i(4).

|𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 i 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒−𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 i𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒| i

𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 =
i i i 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 i 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ∗ i100% (4)

3
Experiment DETAILS i

To iperform ithe iexperiment, ithe inext iapparatus iis ineeded:

 Two idynamometers
 Inclined iplane
 Trolley

During the experiment, the value of S changes because the length of the base has
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changed. This definitely affects the weight component. Using the dynamometer,
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the forces F1 and F2 are actually determined and compared to the true values
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calculated by equations (1) and (2).

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Finally, to evaluate the accuracy of the experiment performed, we need to

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i calculate the relative error using equation (4).

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Results
The iresults iobtained ifrom idynamometers itaking iinto iaccount ithe ideviation iin itheir
irecordings i(0.09N iis ifor i𝐹1and i0.07N iis ifor i𝐹2) i are itabulated ibelow.

Table 1. Measured values

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Length iof ibase 𝑭𝟏 𝑭𝟐

50 icm 0.17 iN 0.92 iN
40 icm 0.24 iN 0.87 iN
30 icm 0.25 iN 0.85 iN
20 icm 0.30 iN 0.83 iN
15 icm 0.40 iN 0.80 iN
10 icm 0.62 iN 0.60 iN

With irespect ito itheoretical ivalues, ithis irequired imany icalculations.

While ithe iheight iof ithe iplane iwhich iis i6 icm iwas ifixed ivalue, ithe ilength iof ithe ibase iof iplane
iwas ibeing ichanged. iAccording ito ithe idata, ithe iangle iof iinclination i was icalculated iby

iformula i (3):

ℎ
𝛼 = 𝑆𝑖𝑛−1 ( ) i i i (3)
𝑠
6 i

𝛼 = 𝑆𝑖𝑛−1( ) = 6.84
i i i i i

50
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Knowing ithe iangle iof iinclination iand iweight iof ithe itrolley iwhich iwas ifound ito ibe i1.07N ithe
iforce i𝐹1 i along ithe iplane iand ithe iforce i𝐹2 i perpendicular ito ithe isurface iwere iobtained iby

iequation i(1) i (2)

𝐹1 = 𝐺 sin 𝛼
i i i i (1)
𝐹1 i = i 1.07 i∗ isin i6.84 i = i0.127
𝐹2 = 𝐺 cos 𝛼
i i i i (2)
𝐹2 i = i 1.07 i∗ icos i6.84 i = i 1.062
In isuch iway iforces ifor iplane iwith ithe idifferent ibase iand iangle iof iinclination iwere
iobtained. iThe itable i2 idisplays ithe iresults iof icalculations.

Table 2. Calculated values

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Length iof ibase 𝑎 𝑭𝟏 𝑭𝟐

50 icm 6.84 0.127 iN 1.062 iN
40 icm 8.62 0.16 iN 1.058 iN
30 icm 11.54 0.21 iN 1.048 iN
20 icm 17.46 0.32 iN 1.021 iN
15 icm 23.58 0.42 iN 0.981 iN
10 icm 36.87 0.64 iN 0.856 iN

Finally, iwe icompared ithe imeasured ivalues iwith icalculated iones iand ifound ithe irelative
ierror ifor ieach imeasurement.

Table 3. Comparison of values of F1

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Length iof ibase Measured i𝑭𝟏 Calculated i𝑭𝟏 Relative ierror

50 icm 0.17 iN 0.127 iN 33.8 i%
40 icm 0.24 iN 0.16 iN 50%
30 icm 0.25 iN 0.21 iN 19%
20 icm 0.30 iN 0.32 iN 6.25%
15 icm 0.40 iN 0.42 iN 4.7%
10 icm 0.62 iN 0.64 iN 3.1%

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Table 4. Comparison of values of F2
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Length iof ibase Measured i𝑭𝟐 Calculated i𝑭𝟐 Relative ierror

50 icm 0.92 iN 1.062 iN 13.3%
40 icm 0.87 iN 1.058 iN 17.7%
30 icm 0.85 iN 1.048 iN 18.8%
20 icm 0.83 iN 1.021 iN 18.7%
15 icm 0.80 iN 0.981 iN 18.4%
10 icm 0.60 iN 0.856 iN 29%

In ithe iend ithe igraph iwas iplotted iwhich idisplays ithe icalculated i(points) iand imeasured
ivalues i(solid iline) i for i both iforces i 𝐹1 i and i𝐹2.

1.2
F2
1

0.8
FORCE i(N)

0.6

0.4

0.2
F1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
LENGTH iOF iBASE i(CM)

Measured iF1 Calculted iF1 Measured iF2 Calculated iF2

Figure 1. Comparison of values

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Discussion
The iexperiment iwas iconducted ito iobserve irelation ibetween iangle iof iinclination iand
iforces iacted ion ithe iobject ion ithe iinclined iplane i(the ifriction iforce iis ineglected). iBoth

icomponents iof igravity iforce iwere iconsidered iand imeasured iwith ithe iuse iof

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dynamometers. iBy igradual i decreasing ithe ibase iof iplane ifrom i50 icm ito i10 icm iwe
iascertained ion ipractice ithat iduring ithe iexperiment iforce iparallel ito iplane iwas igoing iup

iwhile ithe ivalue iof iother iforce iacting iperpendicular ito ithe iplane iwas ilowering. iIn

icomparison iwith itheoretical i values iwhich iwere i acquired ithrough icalculations i by

iapplying iequations i(1), i(2), i(3) imentioned iearlier i the imeasured iforces iwere idifferent iwith

i relative ierrors iin ithe irange iof i1-19%. iThis iwas icaused iby iseveral ifactors. i One iof ithem

iwas iinaccuracy iin ioperation iof iequipment. iEvery itenuous ifactor imight iinfluence ion ithe

iindication iof iinstruments. iIn iaddition, isome igotten iintermediate ivalues ibeing iso ismall

i were irounded ior ineglected i which icertainly iaffected ithe ifinal iresult. i Another ireason iwas

ipresence iof ifriction iforce ialthough iit iwas ineglected iin iour icalculations. i In igeneral, ias

ican ibe inoticed, iF2 ivalues iwere iobtained imore ideviated ifrom icalculated iones ithan iF1

ivalues iand ithis iis iexplained iby ifact ithat ifor imeasuring iF2 i the idynamometer ihad ito ibe

i disposed iperpendicular ito ithe isurface iand ithe itrolley i had ito ibe ilifted iby iit iin isuch iway ithat

itrolley ihardly itouched i the iplane. iIt iwas iimpossible ito iattain ithis iaim iexactly iby ieye.

Conclusion
In ithe iexperiment ithe ifree ibody idiagram iof ithe iobject ion ithe iinclined iplane iwas ianalyzed.
iTwo iforces iacting ion ithe itrolley i(not iconsidering ifriction iforce), icomponents iof iweight,

iwere imeasured i and icompared iwith itheoretical i values iacquired ifrom icalculations. iThe

iaccuracy iin iwork i of idynamometers i was i checked iby ichanging ithe ilength iof ithe ibase iof

iplane i which iconsequently iled ito ithe ichange iin i angle iof iinclination iand ivalues iof iforces. iIn

igeneral, irelative ierrors iof ieach imeasurement idid inot iprecede i20% iwhich imeans ithat ithe

i experiment i was icarried iout isatisfactorily.

References
1. http://www.softschools.com/examples/science/inclined_planes_examples/
i481/

2. http://www.dummies.com/education/science/physics/finding-the-force-of-
igravity-along-an-inclined-plane/

3. Tieck, iSarah. i2006. iInclined iPlanes i(Simple iMachines). iEdina, iMN: iBuddy
iBooks.

4. LD iPhysics iLeaflets