ASE Lab Books

MECHANICS and
PROPERTIES OF MATT:B~R

lil81111
N23733
-----'L6~ ~
 ASE Lab Books
General Editor A. A. Bishop

Biologyeditors D. G. Mackean and A. Davies

Chemistry editors Miss F. Eastwood and E. H. Coulson
Physics editors D. Shires and M. F. James
Middle Schools editor Eric Deeson

Other titles in this series

BIOLOGY
Plant Physiology compiled by C. J. Clegg
Ecology compiled by A. Davies
Cytology, Genetics and Evolution compiled by G. W. Shaw

CHEMISTRY
Chemical Equilibrium, Acids and Bases compiled by J. M. Newman
Chromatography compiled by R. Worley
Energy and Chemistry compiled by W. J. Hughes
Catalysis compiled by D. G. Newman

PHYSICS
Light compiled by E. Deeson
Heat compiled by W. K. Mace
Electronics compiled by E. W. Mackman

MIDDLE SCHOOL
Physics and the Earth Sciences compiled by E. Deeson
Biology and Chemistry compiled by J. Bushell
 ASE Lab Books

MECHANICS and
PROPERTIES OF MATTER
Compiled by
J. C. SIDDONS

John Murray Albemarle Street London

 © Association for Science Education 1975

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of John Murray
(Publishers) Ltd, 50 Albemarle Street, London W1X 4BD
Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd,
Frome and London
ISBN 0 7195 3093 8
Contents

Linear motion
Accelerated motion
M. K. BOWKER 1
Measurement of g by free fall
c. T. CRELLIN 2
Trajectory of a projectile
A. S. REYNOLDS 5
The ticker-tape vibrator used purely for time
measurement· 6
w. BOLTON
The frequency of a ticker-tape vibrator
J. C. SIDDONS 7
A spirit level accelerometer
J. C. SIDDONS 8

Dynamics
Force of a jet
W. K. MACE 11
The momentum balance: a demonstration of Newton's
Second Law of Motion
G. GILES 12
The use of dynamics trolleys
R. A. HANDS 14
Impulses
J. SLATTERLY 14
Principle of the jet engine
J. R. DARLING 15
Simple illustration of Newton's Third Law
T. J. ERICSON 16
Experiments with balloons
c. J. ROBINSON 17
Levitation and the Third Law
E. DEE SON 19
vi CONTENTS
Experimental proof of
'force X distance = ~.X mass X (velocity)"
J. D. MACLENNAN 19
Swinging spheres
J. C. SIDDONS 21
A centre of gravity kit for first or second forms
J. F. BYRON 22
The teaching of moments using a torque-meter
R. S. BARRON 23
Apparatus to demonstrate stable, neutral and unstable
equilibria
J. R. DARLING 25
To find a rule for three or more forces in equilibrium
w. H. JARVIS 26

Circular motion
The experiment with the flywheel
H. L. ARMSTRONG 27
A new use for hat-pins
J. C. SIDDON S 29
Rotational motion and a toppler
J. C. SIDDON S 30

Pressure
'Blowing up' a. girl
A. WARD 33
Showing atmospheric pressure
P. G. MARTIN 33
Low pressure in a 'mini-chamber'
A. WARD 34
Vacuum at the top
J. C. SIDDONS 35
To show that atmospheric pressure decreases with
height
J. C. SIDDON S 35
A simple technique useful for early work on pressure
in liquids
J. A. D. HEALEY 37
Some elementary demonstrations of pressure
phenomena
M. WHITTAKER 38
An intermittent siphon
A. WARD 39
A wider range Boyle's law apparatus for class use
w. K. MACE 40
 CONTENTS vii

p- V relationship for gases

R. A. HANDS 41
A class apparatus for Boyle's law
D. J. LUCAS 42

Archimedes' principle: the Cartesian diver

Archimedes' principle
w. K. MACE and M. J. PIPES 44
Teaching Archimedes
E. M. ROYDS-JONES 44
The densities of aniline and water
c. G. HANSON 45
Principle of flotation: poser and solution
w. OXLEY 46
A ball-operated Cartesian diver
A. WARD 47
A manometer-controlled Cartesian diver
E. J. HARRIS 47

Surface tension
Surface tension
J. GOSTELOW 49
A simple demonstration of surface tension
A. S. REYNOLDS 49
Simple surface tension demonstration
R. D. HARRIS 49
Surface tension and the hydrostatic paradox
c. B. SPURGIN 51
Surface tension by capillary 'rise' for mercury
c. B. SPURGIN 51
Surface tension phenomena: an analogue
w. K. MACE 52
Water walls
J. C. SIDDONS 53

Elasticity
A self-plotting extensometer
w. K. MACE 57
Torsion of wires
P. DIXON 58
Crystal models and elasticity
w. BOLTON 60
The elasticity of rubber
w. BOLTON and G. R. EVANS 62

Viscosity
Viscosity: the parabolic profile
w. K. MACE 65
viii CONTENTS
Modifications to falling-sphere viscometer
R. v. cox 65
On using bubbles in Stokes' method of measuring the
viscosity of a liquid
H. L. ARMSTRONG, J. S. BUCHAN and s. FROST 67

Bernoulli's Theorem: fluid flow

Demonstrating the Bernoulli effect
A. WARD 69
Aeroplane wings: a simple laboratory demonstration
R. W. }OTHAM 70
Examples of Bernoulli's Theorem
J. R. DARLING 71

Miscellaneous
The Robert Boyle oil film experiment
R. BALDWIN 73
'The splash of a drop'
N. w. ALLISON 74
Energy transformations: a Meccano flywheel-driven
trolley
W.K.MA~ 76
An energetic 'noddy-peg'
A. WARD 77
To find the mass of Sir's car
w. H. JARVIS 78
 Linear motion

Accelerated motion
M. K. BOWKER

APPARATUS
There are three components: a push-and-go toy, a base-board on which the
position of the accelerating toy is marked at intervals, and a timer to measure
equal but not necessarily known intervals.
The tall-funnelled engines made in Hong Kong are particularly useful as a
loop of elastic may be slipped over the funnel for pulling, as with PSSC carts.
, Lubricating the flywheel mechanism makes for more reproducible results,
especially at small accelerations.

77

76
I
'("
7
15 I /
/'
.::r
.~
~ 13
14
;?
II>
Q. 12
V
§ 11 /
. ~ 10
/r
1::5
~ 9
V
.5}
8 /
7
o
~V
5 6 7

Fig. 1. Typical result: v/t graph for engine. Slope of 1 in 11 approx. Pendulum approx. 2
second period. Rolling start

The base-board may be a drawing-board or blackboard set on the bench.

The position of the engine may be marked at each tick of the timer by making
a chalk mark opposite the square end of the cab. This can be done with
considerable accuracy after a few minutes' practice.
The timer may be a metronome, or one may be improvised from a heavy
pendulum bob. The bob strikes a piece of glass tubing at the centre of its
2 LINEAR MOTION
arc, the glass tubing being held in a piece of rubber tube clamped horizont-
ally. The rubber tube springs back after the passage of the bob, causing a
precise click each time.

EXPERIMENTS
1. Introduction to accelerated motion: the engine is rolled down the board,
which is supported to make an angle of about 15° to the horizontal. The class
easily sees that the position marks get successively farther apart.
2. Graphical work: from the above, vit, sit and ait graphs may be plotted
after taking measurements from the board.
3. The angle of the board may be varied.
4. The engine may be pulled by a loop of elastic over the funnel, kept at
constant stretch by reference to some other convenient point on the engine.
It is easier to do this than it sounds, especially if the elastic is not held in the
fingers but fixed to a paper clip, and the reference point sighted from above
through the clip. The board in this case is horizontal of course, and experi-
ments (1) and (2) may be repeated.
5. Towing two engines with one elastic may be used to lead to the second
law.

Measurement of g by free fall

c. T. CRELLIN

The arrival of scalers, with facilities for timing, in many school physics
laboratories has made it possible to measure the acceleration due to gravity
by free fall with an accuracy as good as with a simple pendulum. The
apparatus described here was used with a 'Panax' type 102 ST scaler which
has a 1000-hertz oscillator that can be used with its dekatron counters to
measure time intervals to the nearest millisecond. The equipment is easy to
use and the set of measurements given were obtained in less than twenty
minutes.
Two pairs of 4-mm sockets are provided on the scaler; the counter can be
stopped by completing a circuit across one pair, and started by completing a
circuit across the other. Many designs will suggest themselves for using this
facility, the one described is the one found most successful in our laboratories.
The falling body, a i-inch ball-bearing, is released by an electromagnet at the
top of a metre-high wooden tower. The ball opens a circuit as it leaves the
electromagnet and opens a second circuit at the end of the timed fall.
The ball completes a circuit across the 'make to stop' sockets on the scaler
at the top of the tower by being held against a i-inch hole in a divided sheet
of aluminium. At various heights in the tower, a hardboard platform can be
 LINEAR MOTION 3

inserted. This platform has a steel trap door which is opened by the falling
ball. The trap door is held closed by a small cylindrical magnet, the bolt
through the magnet also serves to close a circuit across the 'make to count'
sockets of the scaler. An ion trap magnet from an old TV set is suitable.

bait-
bearing Aluminium

Aluminium
Metre
rule

Wooa'

Slot
in
side
mem~~
-=~
Hardboard
~Plate
-
.
Ttn

Ion trap/..
rna
~~I
net
'g ~I plate
ijl
Brass hinge

Tt'n plate
e' Q)

Sockets tor
magnet
Sockets
for
0 e

S
e
\ ti?ing
Q)

Fig. 1

Leads can be connected direct to the platform or suitable contacts can be

incorporated in the slots on the tower. It is necessary to make the trap door
so that the weight of a body of mass about 30 g will open it; otherwise there
is an appreciable delay in opening it for small drops. It is probable that the
poor result for the shortest drop given in the table is due to this delay. If the
4 LINEAR MOTION

closing force is reduced we find that the time for the fall is 167 milliseconds
but the apparatus is then too sensitive to accidental knocks.

TABLE OF RESULTS

S = distance fallen; t = time of fall; g = acceleration due to gravity. Num-

ber of counts in 10 minutes = 603 561. Therefore correction factor
= 600000/603 561 = 0.9941. A graph of s against t2 is shown in Fig. 2.

g cm/s2
mean t corrected t 2s x 106
sin em t in millisecond
in millisecond (t - 1) x 0.9941
t2
I

13.7 170,170,171, 171 170.5 168 971

23.3 220,220,220,221 220.25 218 981
33.3 264,263,263,262 263 260 985
43.3 300,301,301,300 300.5 298 975
53.3 333, 333, 334, 333 333.25 330 979
63.3 362,363,362,362 362.25 359 982
73.3 390,391,390,391 390.5 387 979
83.2 416,416,415,415 415.5 412 981
93.3 440,440,440,440 440 436 982

100

90 L
80 /
70 /
/
/
/
2s
tT = """'(f;2=98
2x98
0cmjs'l

.JO /
20 V
10 /
o V
.02 .04 .06. .08 .10 .12. .14 .16 018 .2.0
trsa
Fig. 2. Graph of fall against (time)2
 LINEAR MOTION 5

Two corrections to the times given by the scaler are necessary. The first
is due to the scaler picking up and counting the electromagnetic disturbance
caused by switching the electromagnet off. This phenomenon has caused con-
siderable difficulty; at first counts of up to 5 were experienced. By screening
the lead to the electromagnet and also to the top contact, the count-on has
been reduced to a consistent 1. This can be checked by switching the magnet
on and off with both timing contacts closed. The other correction is to allow
for the error in the frequency of the oscillator. This is done by timing over
several minutes against a reliable clock. The correction factor in our case has
remained remarkably constant. Any effect due to air resistance is very small
compared with other sources of error.

Trajectory of a projectile
A. S. REYNOLDS

This apparatus was developed by a sixth-former after a discussion on how to

obtain a visual record of the path of a projectile.
The hardboard stand was covered with carbon paper and a sheet of tracing
paper pinned over it.

Carbon pape,..~

Tracing paper
. Brass curtain
,.,. rail
Hardboard
~

;
Metre rule

Fig. 1

This stand was arranged at a suitable distance (10, 20, 30 em etc.) from the
bottom of the bend of the 'runway' (brass curtain rail from Woolworth's) and
the ball-bearing released. The mark on the paper where it struck was marked
with the horizontal distance. The heights of a series of readings were mea-
sured after the experiments. When plotted on a graph a typical parabola was
obtained.
6 LINEAR MOTION

Path of projectile

.:V
./ ~ '"

""' ~

Vr Horizontat
distances 10.0 a?·O~·035() 40< ~5.o 50·0 6O'M"''''~
In ern "C

Vertical
j?e/ght 6-8 13·0 1161 16·8 170 16:5 14-'7 9·6 7'0 ,5·0
In em
I I I
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Horizontal distance in cent/metres
Fig. 2

By altering the angle of the rail at the bottom where the ball left and by
keeping the electromagnet at the same vertical height above the bench, the
angle for the greatest range at a particular initial velocity could be found.

The ticker-tape vibrator used purely for time measurement

w. BOLTON

In normal use, the ticker-tape vibrator suffers from one disadvantage when
it is used purely for time measurements and that is that the tape must be
attached to the object being timed. Thus in using the vibrator to measure
the acceleration due to gravity the tape is fastened to the falling object.
The results obtained by this method (see reference) using large weights are
not quite free fall. If the vibrator is considered purely as a machine for time
measurement and it is not used to obtain distance as well, then free fall can
be achieved.

t.,
72V
Ticker
tape
vibrator

Il Fig. 2
 LINEAR MOTION 7

Ticker
tape
vibrator

Fig. 1

Marks are made on a tape every -lo second as long as a 12-V supply is con-
nected to the vibrator. The number of marks on a tape thus depends on the
length of time the voltage supply is switched on. Fig. 1 shows how the
vibrator could be used to measure the time for which another circuit is
switched on. The switch is a mercury rocker reversing switch with the cross-
links removed on a DPDT switch. Fig. 2 shows the circuits for the accelera-
tion due to gravity experiment. In both cases the tape is pulled through the
vibrator by hand, the aim being to get sufficient separation between the dots
to be able to count them.

REFERENCE
Siddons, J. C., S.S.R., 1965, 160,46, 732-4.

The frequency of a ticker-tape vibrator

J. C. SIDDONS

The ticker-tape vibrator enables us to measure time intervals of fiftieths of a

second and so is of great use in the study of velocity and acceleration. The
frequency of the vibrator is that of the a.c. mains supply, and so any method
of measuring the frequency of the mains supply is a method of measuring the
time interval of the tape vibrator. Electrochemistry provides a method of
measuring the frequency of the mains which is both simple and elegant.
You will require a turntable-s-one taken from an old gramophone will do
very well. Place it on a brass disc. This is going to be one electrode. Place
a large filter paper on the brass disc and pour on to this paper a starch-
8 LINEAR MOTION

potassium iodide solution until the paper is just wet. The other electrode
is a wire held by the hand so that it gently touches the paper. 12 V a.c. are
applied to the electrodes. (With the old gramophone we use, the brass
disc touches the axle which is in electrical contact with the metal knob of
the speed control.) Set the table turning, touch the paper gently with the
wire and move the wire slowly outwards so that the traces on successive
rotations are separated. As the wire is alternately anode and cathode, the
iodine is liberated alternately at the top and bottom, and black lines and
equally spaced gaps alternate (see fig.). Count the number m of black lines

" ...•
".' ..",.- --.. "
/
/ J~""""
,
-- ••• , "
'-
"' ,,
"
/ ;'

/ / \
I I \ \
I I \ \
I I \ \
I I \ ,
I ' I ,
I , 0 I I
I I I ,
, , , I
\ \ I ,
\ I I
\ \ I I
\ , I I
, "
"
\ ~/

'" ,,," ~'

"', .---"" ",,.,
.............• ----'

in one complete revolution, estimating the fraction left over. (If there are
several complete traces, count the total number in, say, five rotations and
divide by five.)
The next thing to do is to time 100 rotations of the turntable and so find
its frequency, n Hz. The time for one rotation is thus l/n s. In this time there
are m alternations of current and so the frequency of the mains is mn. With a
turntable rotating 78 times in a minute so that n is 78/60, i.e. 1.3, there
should be 50 X 1.3, i.e. 65 black lines in one complete circle.

A spirit level accelerometer

J. C. SIDDONS

Any device which gives horizontal and vertical will be affected by a horiz-
ontal acceleration and so can be used for the detection and measurement of
the latter.
 LINEAR MOTION 9

The use of a plumb line in this connection is well known. Consider a

heavy sphere (Fig. 1) suspended by a cotton held in a stand which has an

••••.••.. --- - L ------.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

acceleration of a. When the sphere comes to rest relative to the stand the
cotton will give the apparent vertical which will be tilted to the real vertical
by an angle () where tan () = a/g.
A liquid accelerometer is described in Sutton's Demonstration Experiments
in Physics (Fig. 2). With a horizontal acceleration a the common level of
the two liquids in the two uprights is tilted from the real horizontal and the
angle of tilt is once again tarr ! a/g.
These devices can be used on trolleys made to accelerate in the usual way
along a bench. In both cases however it will be found that oscillations occur
which are only very slowly damped and the trolley will come to the end of its
run before the system has settled down. It is not practicable therefore to
take readings with them.
A spirit level is much more heavily damped and practically free from
oscillation, and so can very readily be used as an accelerometer. If a spirit
level (Fig. 3) held really level has a horizontal acceleration a then the air

Elevation

Plan

Fig. 3

bubble will move forward to
tilted at an angle of tan-1 a/g.
as Band C are in Fig. 4 and
bubble will be exactly central,
MPM-B
the position it would be at if the level were
Alternatively if the spirit level is tilted forward
if the angle of tilt is exactly tarr ! a/g then the
that is, the tilted level will appear horizontal.
10 LINEAR MOTION

To calibrate such a spirit level accelerometer measure the deflection from

the central position of the air bubble when the level is placed at various slopes.
(Either the centre of the bubble can be used or one of its ends.) Suppose, for
example, that a slope of 1 in 50 will just move the bubble to the outside of the
marked line on that side (Fig. 3). Then an acceleration of g /50 will also move
the bubble to this position.

Fig. 4

A single ordinary spirit level can only be used if the acceleration is very
small (g /50). Small spirit levels can be bought quite cheaply; if three are
mounted at different angles on a base as shown in Fig. 4 the range of measur-
able accelerations can be greatly increased. The tilts should be arranged so
that when the A bubble goes out of sight the B bubble just comes into play.
The addition of other lines to the two normally present either by cutting on
the glass or the use of a thin piece -of sticky paper facilitates measurement.
I have used a mount of two such spirit levels to study the acceleration of
diesel trains (it will fit quite unobtrusively in the window-sill). The slope, if
any, of the railway line must be known and it must be allowed for; this is very
easy, being simply an addition or subtraction. As was to be expected the
trains start off with a bigger acceleration than they maintain, but accelera-
tions of 0.01 g can be noticed even after a minute or more.
Through the good offices of Mr J. W. Cottingham I obtained a long curved
glass tube with which I made a long open spirit level. (At first I used water
to fill the tube but had to change to spirit as the air bubble in water often
splits up and will not reform.). This spirit level will measure the angle of tilt
produced by the acceleration of a trolley-bus-about 10° corresponding to an
acceleration of g/6. Mounted as shown in Fig. 5 and pulled by a weight

T
•

Fig. 5

(hanging over a pulley) which hits the ground after which the trolley con-
tinues with almost constant velocity, the spirit level shows very clearly the
difference between accelerated and constant velocity.
Dynamics

Force of a jet
w. K. MACE

Experimental investigations of F = ma have always been standard procedure

in school laboratories. When the law is generalized to F = dpjdt, however,
with particular reference to 'mass per second X velocity change', there is a
dearth of simple confirmatory experiments.

From water
~tap Glass;be

Sink

The diagram illustrates an arrangement which is no trouble to set up and

seems to be reliable to within two or three per cent. About 0.5 m of 4-mm
glass tubing is bent to a right angle at one end and pivoted from a boss head
by the rubber tube which connects it to the water tap. Without the weight
of the large rubber bung, a moderate flow of water causes the end to rise in
the air. With the addition of the bung a spring balance can be used, as
shown, to measure the reaction force arising from the imparting of vertical
momentum to the stream of water.
The mass per second is found by weighing after 10 seconds' collection in
12 DYNAMICS

a litre beaker, and the velocity is obtained by measuring the bore of the tube.
A quick and surprisingly accurate value for bore diameter can be obtained
by using a long demonstration magnet needle as a wedge gauge. It is gently
inserted until it touches both sides, withdrawn with a thumb-nail marking
the depth of insertion, and measured with a vernier caliper.
Typically, a flow of 60 cm3/s gives about 0.3 N reaction.

The momentum balance: a demonstration of Newton's

Second Law of Motion
G. GILES

There are many experimental methods of verifying that force o: mass X ac-
celeration. The apparatus described demonstrates the original form of
Newton's Second Law of Motion:
force o: rate of change of momentum

CONSTRUCTION

The jet of water is stopped by a 5-cm diam. disc of -h in Paxolin drilled and
tapped 2 BA centrally.
The disc is attached to the fulcrum piece by a 33-cm length of {6 -in dural.
rod so that it is vertical and directly below the fulcrum. The ends of this rod
are bent and threaded very easily.
The fulcrum piece used is a scrap of i-in Ebonite 5 cm long. The fulcrum,
which could be improved, is merely a i-in diam. hole which slides over a
knife edge.
The horizontal arm is also -fs--in dural. rod. A notch filed in it at the

Lead --...
counterweight

oi«
 DYNAMICS 13

appropriate distance from the fulcrum takes the thread from the suspended
mass which is in turn 5, 10, 15, 20 g.
The lead counterweight is so positioned on a screwed rod that the c of g is
sufficiently close beneath the fulcrum to give the required sensitivity.
A small adjusting weight rides on the horizontal arm.
The knife edge protrudes from a vertical wooden strut which is held in a
clamp stand.
To the lower end of the strut is attached a rectangle of celluloid which is
curved right round to form a cylindrical splash screen round the disc.
A device limits the movement of the disc to 1 ern.

OPERATION

(1) The momentum balance is adjusted until it is swinging freely and comes
to rest with the disc at the midpoint of its range of movement. A mass of
0.1 g on the disc should cause a noticeable displacement.
(2) Each of the four masses is in turn hung on the groove on the horizon-
tal arm.
(3) The water is turned on and adjusted until the jet, striking the centre of
the disc, maintains the disc in its original position of equilibrium. The rate
of flow, i.e. the volume of water issuing per second is then measured.
(4) Difficulties caused by variation in the water pressure may be diminished
by incorporating an air reservoir as shown. The larger the reservoir is the
greater is the smoothing.

CALCULATIONS

1. The velocity of the water jet is directly proportional to the rate of flow.
The rate of change of momentum being proportional to the product of the
rate of flow and the velocity is therefore proportional to the square of the
rate of flow. If a graph of the square of the rate of flow against suspended
mass is a straight line then the proportionality of force and rate of change of
momentum is established.
2. A value for the acceleration due to gravity can be obtained from the
experiment. The diameter of the water jet tube must be measured: from this
diameter and the rate of flow the velocity of the water can be calculated.
For simplicity it is an advantage to have the moment arms equal. The force
of the jet then equals the force of gravity on the suspended mass.
14 DYNAMICS

The use of dynamics trolleys

R. A. HANDS

The accelerating force for these (which must be variable in a known manner
to show that acceleration is proportional to force) can, it is claimed, be
applied by rubber bands which are kept stretched to a constant length by a
hand moving with the trolley( s). This is a somewhat uncertain process. I
use instead long pieces of elastic (model aircraft type) anchored to a distant
point. They do contract as they operate, but if the contraction is not above
10 per cent of the remaining extension, the acceleration produced is suffi-
ciently nearly uniform. Since a 50-cm length of ticker-tape is quite adequate
this means that an extension of 5 m is satisfactory. The unstretched length
of the pieces of elastic can be whatever additional length one's laboratory has.
The fixed ends can be tied to, e.g., a window latch, and the free ends can be
fitted with rings which will slip over the spring release plunger of a trolley
in order to accelerate it.
The forces applied by this means are somewhat large, giving violent
collisions at the end of each run, but they have the merit of greatly exceeding
the frictional forces, which become almost negligible. Smaller forces could
be applied if preferred by means of weaker types of cord used in the same
way.

Impulses
PROFESSOR JOHN SLATTERLY

If a force acts on a body for a finite time, the time average value of the force
multiplied by the duration of the action is called the 'Impulse'. From the
equation F = ma of the Second Law of Motion we get Ft = m( V2 - VI).
Here m is the mass of the body, V2 and VI its final and original velocities, a the
acceleration during the action, t the duration of the time of action and F the
average force (the time average).
Note that a given change of momentum may be produced by a large force
acting for a short time or a small force acting for a long time. Under the
heading of Impulse-one usually thinks of the former.
A few examples of Impulses quoted or done at lecture:
(1) All ball games-cricket, football, billiards, etc.
(2) In catching a ball, pull your hands back at the impact, thus lengthening
the time allotted to the destruction of the momentum of the ball.
(3) In jumping from a height, bend the knees to lengthen the duration of
the impact.
 DYNAMICS 15

(4) Delicate articles for transport should be packed in some yielding

material. Note buffers and the use of springs.
(5) When withdrawing a book or a paper from the bottom of a pile, do it
quickly, and the frictional force has little time to act. Hence the pile is
undisturbed.
(6) Rest a visiting card on the tip of the outstretched finger and place a
coin, e.g. sovereign', on the top of the card. Flip the card quickly away and
the coin sits quietly on the finger-tip.
(7) A quick force breaks a string; watch the shop assistant.
(8) Hang a heavy ball from the ceiling. Attach to the ball a fine string.
Pull the ball back by a horizontal force. If the force is exerted gently the ball
may be pulled back a considerable distance. If the force is a quick one, the
string as quickly breaks.
(9) Dive into water from a moderate height. If little water is disturbed the
force on the body is small; if the dive is clumsy the body may be hurt.
(10) Rubber heels on shoes soften the blow when the shoe hits the pave-
ment.
Many other examples could be added.

Principle of the jet engine

J. R. DARLING

Viewed from the side Viewed from above

16 DYNAMICS

The apparatus consists of a cylinder of wide glass tubing arranged so that it

can revolve about a vertical axis. A cork is fitted at the bottom of the cylinder.
Through the cork come three jets of glass tubing which are bent so that they
will eject water in a clockwise direction. The pivot is made by a vertical steel
knitting needle inside a hollow glass tube sealed at the top. With this arrange-
ment the apparatus is supported almost at a point and there is very little
friction.
If the cylinder is now filled with water it will rotate in an anticlockwise
direction. It is an example of the conservation of momentum. A lawn-
sprinkler works on the same principle.
To save wetting the bench it is a good idea to place the apparatus on a tray.
We use the top of a tin of sweets, painted black, with a short hollow metal
rod soldered to it for an outlet.

Simple illustration of Newton's Third Law

T. J. ERICSON

This demonstration is sketched below and simply consists of a bow on wheels.

The cotton connecting the arrow to the frame is burned with a match and the
reaction to the force on the arrow accelerates the bow and frame backwards.

DETAIL

. )
Wire Cotton
attachment:
 DYNAMICS 17

Experiments with balloons

c. J. ROBINSON

1. BALLOON ENGINE

Adhesive tape fixed to

and balloon

Various shapes and sizes of jet can be cut from polystyrene or balsa wood.

2. MEASURING THE LIFTING POWER OF THE BALLOON

Paperclip,
fixed ~

Cotton
Balloon engine

Paper clip
•......weights

3. HILL-CLIMBING
Try this also with the thread vertical.

4. MEASURING VELOCITY
The thread must be horizontal. Compare the velocity of a cigar-shaped and
a spherical-shaped balloon.
18 DYNAMICS

5. FLYING TEST-BED
Fit the balloon engine with 'wings' and a 'tailplane' to demonstrate aero-
plane control surfaces and airfoil shapes.

6. JET-PROPELLED BOAT

j---:: =-~-- -::~---:-~- - =-~--::--~==-~~-~~.

Waterproof wit,? paraffin Opening under
wax or varnish water

Fit rollers or wheels to make a jet-propelled car.

7. REACTION TURBINE

Thin glass tubes bent at righf;

angles to each other and the
enas drown offas ttnefets
 DYNAMICS 19

Levitation and the Third Law

ERIC DEESON

The 'levitating' arrangement of two repelling television ring magnets threaded

on a vertical cardboard cylinder is now quite well known as an effective
demonstration of magnetic forces. The apparatus was the means of astound-
ing an elementary science class during a discussion on Newton's Third Law.
The cylinder and lower magnet were placed on a lever balance pan and
then the upper magnet was added. As the latter was 'supported' in mid-air
without resting on anything, no-one expected the balance to read more now.
But of course it did, and must do.
'This demonstration appears to be far more effective in shaking up ideas on
Newton's Third Law than the usual examples.

Experimental proof of
'force x distance = ~ x mass x (velocity)"
J. D. MACLENNAN

To the best of my belief, this relationship is normally deduced theoretically

from Newton's Second Law and no simple method has been available to

-.
establish it directly.
Continuous rubber cord A

Fig. 1
20 DYNAMICS

This apparatus has been devised as a class experiment to satisfy this need,
and is illustrated in Fig. 1 above. The force F is provided by 3-4 mm 2
sectioned rubber cord obtainable from most suppliers and this force can be
varied by altering the position of the pegs A-A. The distance s that the force
acts through is altered by adjusting the position of pegs B-B. The velocity
can be measured by stopclock operated by a photocell, or by a ticker-timer,
and the mass can be increased in equal steps by using 2 or more trolleys.
The pegs A-A, B-B and P are made from fs-in rod. If the laboratory
benches are reasonably plane, they may be satisfactorily used instead of
trolley boards. It was found that the effect of friction is small, but, if thought
necessary, it may be measured and deducted from the measured applied
force.
The applied force from the rubber cords varies over the length of travel of
the push-bar, but it is theoretically permissible to use the average of this
force at either end of the travel.
Starting from the point in the syllabus where it is established that force X
distance is a measure of energy stored up in a system, it can be verified by
normal techniques that F X s is proportional to v2 with mass constant, and
m is proportional to 1/v2 for given F X s input. Thus F X s = K X m X v2
where K is a constant.
Fig. 2 shows a graph of value of F X s against m X v2 obtained by a pair

-
~.OI-------+------.I:L,If---+----+-----+
3
C),
"')

~
C\J
:>
x
~1.01-------#-------t------t-----i

o 0.5 1.0 1.5

FORCE X DISTANCE (!nJoules)
Fig. 2
 DYNAMICS 21

of fifth-year students, which gives values of K falling within a range of

±6 per cent of the theoretical value of 0.5.

Swinging spheres
J. C. SIDDONS

A toy is on sale which consists of five steel spheres suspended as shown in

Fig. 1. It has been said of it that it proves (a) the laws of momentum, and
(b) Newton's laws of energy (!). It is a pity that such absurd claims have been
made for what is really a pleasant toy which illustrates in a neat way (a) the
transference of momentum, and (b) the splendid elastic properties of steel.
A sphere at one end is pulled to the side and released. When it collides
with the stationary spheres, the sphere at the far end swings away, leaving
four almost but not quite stationary spheres. The momentum of the one
sphere has been almost completely transferred to the other sphere. When

Fig. 1

in due course the second sphere returns to collide the first sphere now gains
the momentum of the second sphere and so the process of momentum transfer
is repeated several times. Gradually the middle spheres begin to move more
quickly and eventually all five spheres swing in unison.
Pull two spheres to the side and then release them. After the collision two
spheres at the other end will swing away. The middle sphere remains un-
moved by the activity on either side. When three spheres are made to collide
with two stationary ones, three spheres swing away, one of the spheres
changing sides every time there is a collision. When four swinging spheres
hit one stationary sphere, four spheres swing away. These observations are
22 DYNAMICS

summed up in the following rule: the number of moving spheres after the
collision equals the number before.
If the sphere at the left end and that at the right end are pulled outwards
and then released simultaneously each one appears to rebound from the
stationary sphere it hits. However what has happened now is that the two
spheres exchange their momenta. To show that this is so, let the sphere on
one side be released with a smaller swing than the sphere on the other side:
after the collision it will have the bigger swing.
If two outer spheres on the left are released at the same moment as one
sphere on the right, one sphere only swings back on the left, two swing away
on the right. Again momenta have been exchanged. The central sphere
remains stationary; after each collision it is joined in this state by a sphere
from alternate sides. The rule for these double-ended collisions is: the
number of spheres which swing away on the one side equals the number of
spheres which swung down on the other side. It is obvious that this rule
includes the previous rule.
With finger and thumb, hold anyone of the inner three spheres 'still', the
finger-thumb line being perpendicular to the line of swing. Even now a
sphere swinging from one end will still transfer its momentum to the sphere
at the other end.
The toy is a fascinating one but it can mislead. With the help of modern
adhesives, the toy can easily be made. As a corrective to wrong conclusions a
similar toy should be made but this time with lead spheres. Momentum will
then be shared out between the spheres concerned and not simply transferred.
Steel is so resilient that when steel sphere hits steel sphere kinetic energy is
almost completely conserved. If kinetic energy were completely conserved
in the collisions, as momentum must be, then the transfer of momentum
would be complete. If in place of steel spheres steel springs were used the
transfer of momentum would be even more nearly complete than it is with
steel spheres. The toy would then keep on working, i.e. transferring momen-
tum, for a longer time.

A centre of gravity kit for first or second forms

J. F. BYRON

The determination of the centre of gravity of a lamina, by the method of

suspending it from various points and hanging a plumb line in front, has
been on O-level syllabuses for many years. It has usually been taught by
means of a demonstration using a piece of card as the lamina and marking the
position of the plumb line with a pencil. The problem of making this into a
class experiment was to devise a method whereby the lines marking the
 DYNAMICS 23

position of the plumb line could readily be erased and the lamina used
again.
The kit consisted of four sets of five different shapes of lamina, a triangle,
a parallelogram, an ellipse, a rectangle, and a 'U' shape, cut out of hardboard.
Each lamina had three holes drilled in it to suspend it from the pivot. The
smooth surface was painted with blackboard paint, and the rough surface
with yellow gloss to provide a durable attractive finish. The complete set of
laminas can be cut out of a 60 em X 120 em sheet of hardboard as shown in
the diagram.
Each group of pupils determined the centre of gravity by marking the

~T 30

~~-f----ll
r--
7Ya
-----I-
22~

position of the plumb line with chalk, and then drew the lamina to scale,
marking the position of the centre of gravity on the diagram. This also gave
practice in measurement. The chalk lines were rubbed off with a board
duster (this was done with great vigour so that the next group could not
cheat) and the lamina passed on.
Should the black surface be marked in any way it can easily be renovated
by another coat of blackboard paint.
A homework to follow up this lesson could be to find the centre of England,
or any other country, by the same method. The map of England is traced
and cut out. The tracing is then suspended by a pin with a plumb line made
from a cotton reel hanging in front of it.

The teaching of moments using a torque-meter

R. S. BARRON

The customary procedure in the teaching of moments seems to lack the reality
of the usual phrase 'the moment of a force measures its turning effect'.
Although many examples of levers will be given, nothing is usually done
in the laboratory to measure the turning or twisting effect of any actual lever.
Demonstrations usually show a form of see-saw in which an equilibrium is
24 DYNAMICS

established when weights are hung on opposite sides of a balanced rule or

rod. '
The apparatus shown is an attempt to give reality, especially when the
subject is first introduced.
The model exhibited was made up from a metal stand, a half-metre rule
and a number of bosses. The half-metre rule (or a strip of metal with a
similar twisting property) is firmly fixed at one end A and given a twist by
torques applied at the end B. AB is horizontal. A pointer P measures the
angle of twist and the scale can be calibrated in newton metre. A metal rod
in which small notches are cut at Ifl-cm intervals is fixed at right angles to
AB as shown in the plan view (Fig. I ). Weights can be hung from the notches
and equilibrium can be attained when one or more weights are hung on either
side in the usual way.
A

PLAN

Rule or metal
that is twisted
/

Fig. 1
FAONT
ELEVATION

J
J
I
J
J
I
I
,- - -J_ --1
I W I
L .l

Fig. 2

The actual measurement of some 'turning effect' however is made by

applying a screwdriver or spanner to a screw or nut which has been inserted
into a wood or metal block attached to the end B. The elevation view (Fig. 2)
 DYNAMICS 25

shows a spanner applying a clockwise moment. If a weight w is hung on the

other side, an anticlockwise moment may restore the pointer to zero. The
half-metre rule or metal strip when clamped only at A will have a sideways
freedom of movement at the other end B unless that is restrained; support is
also required when weights are hung on the rod. This support was achieved
by using a boss with a hole that allows it to rotate about a rod arranged hori-
zontally below the rule or metal strip which is twisted. The cross-section of
the rod is shown shaded in Fig. 1.

Apparatus to demonstrate stable, neutral and unstable

equilibria
J. R. DARLING

The pivot is made by boring a hole through the centre of a large barrel
connector.
By altering the positions of the two adjustable barrel connectors the posi-
tion of the centre of gravity may be arranged to lie (a) below, (b) on, and
(c) above the pivot, to illustrate the three types of equilibria.
The apparatus may also be used to demonstrate the effect of changing the
moment of inertia on the frequency of the oscillations of the bar (keeping the
position of the centre of gravity in the same place), to illustrate the principle
of moments, as a balance, and for many other purposes.

--Rod--,

I It.__
bLarge
arrel
11- connectors
~
PiV~ VI
1:;.,.
s~eeve

(
qII
{

Ii,

I I

1
I

1-=

MPM-C
26 DYNAMICS

To find a rule for three or more forces in equilibrium

w. H. JARVIS
About twenty-four 4-in nails are driven at random into one side of a piece of
I-em chipboard, about 750 mm square. The exact size does not matter at all.
Three small spring balances, calibrated in newtons and reading up to say
200 N, are required. (Most schools have a lot of spring balances calibrated
in lb or kg, and a light-coloured polythene insulating tape, e.g. from Radio-
spares, can be stuck over the scale, and written on in fibre-tipped spirit
marker to recalibrate in N.)
A 'star' of heavy-gauge copper wire is made, roughly to the dimensions in
the diagram of Fig. 1. When this is tensioned by three spring balances

o o o

750
mm
o

o o

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

hooked over the perimeter nails, the forces can be read directly and the
angles measured with a protractor. It is then a simple matter to redraw the
vectors to scale, starting with anyone at random and 'picking up' the others
to stick on to the end of the previous one (Fig. 2). The triangles so formed
usually close up quite neatly.
One can go on to say that the single force which could replace any particular
two is the opposite of the force which cancels them out, or produces equili-
brium. Thus the idea of a resultant and components might be introduced
(Fig. 3).
Circular motion

The experiment with the flywheel

PROFESSOR H. L. ARMSTRONG

The experiment on the acceleration of a flywheel is common in courses in

dynamics. A flywheel is mounted with a small drum on the same axle. A
string is wrapped around the drum and a weight, attached to the string, let
fall [1, pp. 72 and 73]. '
Often the students are told to measure the distance which the weight falls,
and the time taken [2, pp. 91 and 92]. This is probably very good for pre-
cision, but it seems to put very little emphasis on the fact that the experiment
has to do with something rotating. In fact, the wheel might be hidden in a
'black box' and the students not know that anything was rotating. Here at
Queen's University, Ontario, we have tried modifying the methods to put
more emphasis on the rotation.
First the wheel is let turn, starting from rest each time, through one, two,
three, four and five complete revolutions, and the time taken for each trial
measured. The weight used is here the same throughout. The angle turned

V
T01f '""

,/

V
8TT

~/
V
6fT

e
4'[( /
2rf
-: "
V
r

o 10 20 30 40 50 60
t
2
(t in sec.)
Fig. 1. The angle () turned through vs. the square of time. The two are proportional
 28 CIRCULAR MOTION

is plotted versus square of time taken, as is shown in Fig. 1. The straight line
shows that the angle is proportional to the square of the time. So this experi-
ment is to rotary motion what Fletcher's trolley or Atwood's machine is to
linear.
Secondly the wheel is let turn through five revolutions, starting from rest
each trial, and the time noted. Several trials are taken with different weights.
The torque on the wheel is mgr[l - (rlX/g)]. Here m is the mass of the
weight, g the acceleration of gravity and r the radius of the drum around '
which the string was wrapped. Also IX is the angular acceleration, which was
found from the time taken for the five revolutions.
There will also be some torque due to friction. However, this will be more
or less independent of speed. So if IX is plotted versus m[l - (rlX/g)], the
points should lie on a straight line of slope rg /1. Here I is the moment of
inertia of the wheel and can be found, since all the other things are known.
Fig. 2 shows results plotted as suggested.
2·4
)
2·2
/
V
2·0
:?(

/
1'8

1·6
/
/f{
1'2
of
1-0 L
;(
0-8

0-6 L
0-4- /
0-2 /
o / 200 400 600 800 1000
m(l - ~o( )(grams)

Fig. 2. The angular acceleration of the wheel vs. (i/rg times) the applied torque. The relation
is linear, and the slope is rg/I; thus I may be found. The intercept indicates that the force of
gravity on a body of mass about 40 g is necessary just to overcome friction. The failure of the one
point to be on the line is probably due to a genuine error (i.e. a mistake, not a tolerance)

For the third part, a weight of mass m, was clamped on to the edge of the
wheel, the centre of the weight being a distance b from the axis of the wheel.
The wheel is then let swing as a compound pendulum, and the period, T,
.measured.
 CIRCULAR MOTION 29
Since the period is given by

T = 2nJI + mb 2

mgb
and everything but I is known, I can be found in this way.
Finally the diameter of the wheel is measured. The mass of the wheels
used here is marked on them. The wheels being discs, the moment of inertia
can be calculated.
In the experiment for which the graphs have been shown here, the results
obtained by the three methods were 7.01, 7.02, and 7.03 X 105 gm em- for
the moment of inertia. These results agree better than could have been
expected.
In conclusion, then, this method makes it rather emphatic that the question
is one of rotation. Also, a bit about the compound pendulum is introduced,
which might either supplement or supplant a separate experiment on the
compound pendulum.

REFER~NCES
1. Nelkon, M., and Parker, P., Advanced Level Physics (Heinemann, 1958).
2. Avery, J. H., and Ingram, A. W. K., Laboratory Physics, 3rd edition (Heinemann,
1961).

A new use for hat-pins

J. C. SIDDONS

A simple experiment on rotational motion which leads to a verification of th~

equation for the acceleration a = rro2 can be carried out with the device
shown in the figure. S is a stick about 50 em long. It is free to spin about a
nail N which passes through its centre and which is driven into a dowel D
firmly held in a clamp. Two hat-pins H (or some similar devices) are taped
to the end of the stick. Each pin carries a metal bob B which is free to move
along that part of the hat-pin which projects beyond the stick.
The stick is rotated by means of a finger pushing at a point F near the axis.
When the stick is rotated slowly, distinctive clicks are heard due to the bobs
falling down along the pins as they go over the top. When the stick is rotated
quickly no clicks are heard for now the bobs do not fall relative to the pin as
they go over the top. There is thus a critical rate of rotation for the produc-
tion of clicks: if the speed of rotation is gradually increased, suddenly the
clicks stop. This critical speed of rotation can be measured.
At a rate of rotation a little higher than the critical rate, when the bob goes
over the top the pull of gravity alone is not sufficient to keep the bob in
position and the pin-head presses down upon it. At the critical rate the force
30 CIRCULAR MOTION

between pin-head and bob becomes zero. The pull of gravity mg is now by
itself just sufficient to give the required force mr012 to the bob. Thus if 010
is the critical angular velocity and no the critical rate of rotation g = r0102 and
so g = 4n2n02r, where r is the distance between N and the centre of the bob.
After a little practice students become skilful at twirling the stick round so

that clicks are just not heard. The time for twenty just-not-clicking rotations
is taken: successive readings show quite surprising consistency. From the
time of rotation the rate of rotation no can be found. Substituting this value
of no in the above formula, we get a fair value for g and thus the formula r012
is confirmed. The only difficult part of the experiment is, as so often, ex-
plaining the theory.

Rotational motion and a toppler

J. C. SIDDONS

Before discussing the toppler and rotational motion we will consider a toppler
in linear motion. The toppler T (Fig. 1) is an accurately made 2-cm alu-
minium cube (supplied for density determinations). One half of a strip of
paper S is taped to the base B, the other half to the cube. S acts as a hinge:
it must be neatly creased along the line of topple.
If the base moves to the right with a small acceleration nothing happens,
i.e. the cube moves forward with the base. If, however, the horizontal
 CIRCULAR MOTION 31

T
a

Fig. 1

acceleration a is increased, eventually the cube topples backwards. This

happens when the horizontal acceleration equals the acceleration due to
gravity, i.e. when a equals g. To see that this is so, consider the forces acting
on the cube when toppling is about to take place (Fig. 2). The reaction R of

WIg

Fig. 2

the base on the cube must then pass through the axis of topple and the centre
of gravity C. The vertical component of R must equal mg, the horizontal
component rna. The two components are equal and so a equals g.
If instead of a cube a cuboid was used whose height was k times its base,
the horizontal acceleration to produce toppling would be only a/]«. Such a
cuboid can be made quite simply by sticking two cubes together.
To study rotational motion, place the toppler and its base radially on a
turntable, preferably one with adjustable speed. The axis of topple must of
course be on the side away from the axis of the turntable. Make r, the dis-
tance between the axis of rotation and the centre of gravity of the cube, 15
em. Set the turntable rotating slowly, e.g. about 1 rotation a second. No
toppling will take place. Gradually increase the rate of rotation. Eventually
a gentle thud will announce that the cube has toppled outwards. Measure
the rate of rotation, n. The acceleration of the cube moving in its circular
path to the centre is rw2, i.e. 4n2n2r. But the cube topples when the hori-
zontal acceleration equals that of gravity and so g = 4n2n2r.
34 PRESSURE

Low pressure in a 'mini-chamber'

ALAN WARD

Wooden houses caught in the violent low pressure vortices of tornadoes can
explode, when 'normal' pressures inside them blast out windows and walls.
An explosion of this sort can be shown by pumping air out of a sealed jar that
contains a little corked pill-bottle of air. The climax comes when relatively
high pressure inside the bottle blows out the cork like a bullet from a gun.
Racking our brains to find a cheap, quick and easy way to show the effect,
we thought of a lO-cm plastic hypodermic syringe. Surely here was means to
produce low pressure easily-even if only in a very small space. But where
would we find a 'corked bottle' so tiny? The answer was a gelatine pill cap-
sule-obtained, several for a penny, at chemists' (see the diagram).

Each hollow transparent capsule is a pair of rounded 'ends' fitting snugly

together. Put a capsule inside the barrel of a syringe. Push in the piston.
Then, with a left hand over the nozzle (to stop air entering), use the right hand
to pull the piston. Immediately pressure in the barrel is reduced-causing
air in the capsule to expand forcibly and blow the ends apart.
With practice, the experiment can be done inside the space where the slide
carrier should go in an Aldis projector-and so the apparatus can be magnified
on a screen as an animated 'transparency'. Obviously the technique can be
further adapted ... Will warm water boil in the syringe when low pressure
is achieved? Also, can the syringe be exploited as a high pressure 'mini-
chamber'?

NOTE
In all experiments using mercury the usual precautions should be taken to
limit contact, especially with the highly toxic vapour.
 PRESSURE 3S

Vacuum at the top

J. C. SIDDONS

Dismantling apparatus is generally rather a dull job but this

need not be so with a simple mercury barometer. Put your
finger across the end of the tube and lift the tube a little above
the mercury in the bowl (see Fig.). Ask the class what will
happen when you remove your finger. As a general rule,
junior pupils expect the mercury to fall out in an unbroken
column.
What actually happens is that a. drop of mercury detaches
itself from the column and falls out of the tube: the remaining
mercury shoots quite fiercely to the top which it hits with a loud
clack. This is audible confirmation that there is nothing on top
of the mercury.

To show that atmospheric pressure decreases with height

J. C. SIDDONS

Through the hole in the cork of a large (1.5 litre) vacuum flask the bent glass
tube A passes (see Fig. 1). A short length of rubber tubing B connects this
to a length, 20-30 em, of capillary tubing C of internal diameter about 2.5 mm.
A

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

C is fastened by rubber bands to a short piece of thinned meter stick glued to

the cork top (Fig. 2).
Before C is put into position it is cleaned by pushing and pulling a cotton-
36 PRESSURE

covered wire through it. One end is dipped into soapy water to pick up a
short length of water which is going to act as the index. This water should
run smoothly along the tube as the latter is suitably tilted-the soap, or
detergent, makes movement much smoother. With this water index halfway
along C remove any water from the open ends. Now put C into its working
position. The apparatus is ready for use.
Place the flask on the floor and note the position on the scale of that side of
the water index which is exposed to the atmosphere. Lift the flask up to the
level of the bench or higher still by standing on a stool, the bench or a step
ladder. The index should move outwards, about 3 em for every metre rise.
The outward movement of the index shows that the air inside the flask is
expanding, and this in turn shows that the pressure on the air, the atmospheric
pressure, is getting less.
If the index does not respond to height changes this may be due to
(i) leakage round the cork. This can be stopped by use of grease;
(ii) the formation of a second water index near the inner end of C. In this
case dry this end and start again.
The index generally has a slight drift due to thermal and pressure changes
with time. It responds immediately to the opening and closing of doors. (Is
not the steadiness of atmospheric pressure as measured by a mercury baro-
meter an illusion due to the great inertia of the mercury column?) In spite of
this drift the index movement per metre rise can be measured with some
consistency if a quick series of, for example, 6 'readings at the lower position
are taken alternately with 5 readings at the higher position. In this way the
effect of drift can be almost eliminated.
In place of the large vacuum flask a smaller i-litre flask may be used. It
will be less sensitive but can be used with instruction and delight on lifts. I
have never tried one out on escalators, another obvious place for their use.
Winchester Quart bottles, about 2.5 litres, also do excellently. Put the bottle
in a big cardboard box, allowing the tubes to protrude. The box acts both as
an insulator and a resting place for the tubes.
The experiment can be used at different levels in the school. With Junior
forms it serves simply as a qualitative demonstration, leading on to the idea
of the altimeter. At Ordinary level it is possible to calculate the fractional
change in pressure for a metre rise, given the height of a mercury barometer,
the densities of air and mercury. Indeed if the enclosed air expanded iso-
thermally it would be possible to apply Boyle's law and do the complete
calculation. The air however expands adiabatically and so the complete
calculation must be left to the sixth form. From the barometric height, the
density of mercury, that of air, the volume of air in the flask, the diameter of
the capillary tube and the measured index movement per metre rise it is
possible to get a fair, if rather low value for Cp/Cv, the ratio of the specific
heats for air.
 PRESSURE 37

A simple technique useful for early work on pressure in

liquids
J. A. D. HEALEY

A straight glass tube about 25 em long and 0.7 em internal diameter is heated
at one end to soften it, and pressed against a piece of asbestos. This gives it
a plane end of rather restricted aperture. The other end is given a slight lip
so that it is not completely circular in cross-section. This is to avoid the
possibility of an air seal forming when liquid is run in from a teat pipette.
'Sellotape' is soaked in water for a few minutes so that the adhesive can be
peeled off. It is then cut into squares of about 1.5 em side.
A square of Sellotape is held on to the plane end of the tube by sucking at
the other end. It is lowered beneath the surface of water in a beaker when the
sucking can stop. It is then clamped in a vertical position. The pressure of
the liquid keeps the Sellotape in place and the seal is good so that no water
enters the tube. The pupil can be asked the question 'what keeps the Sello-
tape in position?'
A little water is now run into the tube by means of a teat pipette. How
much water is going to be supported? The pupil finds out that it comes off
the moment the level inside reaches the level outside. The experiment may
be repeated with the tube held at different depths in the water, with different
liquids such as methylated spirits and brine run into the tube and with
different liquids in the beaker. At this stage the pupil may have discovered
that the force supporting the Sellotape depends on the depth and on the
density of the liquid and that the force acting on the Sellotape in the tube
depends on the height of the liquid and its density.
If the experiment is repeated with tubes of different diameter the idea of
force per unit area may be introduced. Then tubes with their ends bent to
different angles may be used establishing that the pressure in the liquid is
independent of the direction. With coloured methylated spirits in the tubes
and water in the beakers the whole thing is particularly clear and diffusion
rates are so slow that tubes can be set up and left for several days without
appreciable change taking place.
A quick and accurate determination of the density of ethanol (methylated
spirits) and other liquids less dense than water can be carried out using the
same technique. A long tube, 70 em or so, is fixed to a ruler with elastic
bands. Sellotape is sucked on to the end as before and it is lowered into a
tall jar of water. Ethanol is run into the tube by means of a teat pipette until
the Sellotape falls off. If it falls off too early nothing is lost as the surface can
be seen between the ethanol and water in the tube. Continue to add ethanol
until the ethanol just reaches the bottom of the tube. The height of the
ethanol column is measured and the height of the column of water outside
supporting the ethanol. The tube is raised a little. Ethanol runs out but the
38 PRESSURE

volume is very small compared with the total volume of water and it will not
have an appreciable effect on the density of the water. Another pair of
readings are taken. By further raising of the tube any number of readings can
be obtained in a very short time. The gradient of the graph drawn will give
the density of the ethanol. This is of course only a modification of Hare's
apparatus but it seems much simpler.

Some elementary demonstrations of pressure phenomena

MRS MURIEL WHITTAKER

The plastic disposable syringe is by now a familiar piece of equipment in both

surgery and laboratory. These syringes can be used to give a number of simple
demonstrations of the physical properties of gases and liquids, and some of
these are outlined below.
The commonest type used nowadays for injection is the ready-sterilized,
plastic sort. They can often be obtained free from medical or veterinary
sources but they can also, of course, be purchased from most laboratory
suppliers or from Boots and other pharmacists.
The most suitable sizes for use by individual children are the 2-, 5- and
10-ml syringes, but the Ifl-ml one will be found to be convenient for most
purposes. The plunger should be well greased of lubricated with liquid
paraffin.

1. AIR PRESSURE AND VOLUME

(a) A small volume of air is drawn into the syringe, and the nozzle closed by
pressing the thumb over the end. Alternatively, thin rubber or plastic
tubing can be slipped over the nozzle and closed with a clip. The air in the
syringe can be expanded by withdrawing the plunger of the syringe, and the
amount of effort exerted can be felt to increase as the plunger is drawn out.
On releasing the plunger the volume of the air in the syringe returns to
approximately the initial value.
(b) A larger volume of air in the syringe can be compressed with the
plunger, and will return to the initial value when the pressure on the plunger
is released. Both these demonstrations can be made roughly quantitative if
the syringe is suitably clamped so that a known weight can be applied to the
plunger. This provides a simple demonstration of Boyle's law.

2. DEMONSTRATION OF COOLING BY EXPANSION

A few drops of water are introduced into the syringe, and the barrel then
filled with air. The nozzle is closed and the plunger pushed in to raise the
 PRESSURE 39

air pressure in the barrel as high as possible. The nozzle is then opened, and
the plunger immediately pushed home to the end of the barrel, when a jet of
condensed water vapour will be seen coming from the nozzle, showing the
cooling of the air on expansion. It is best to use the thumb to close the nozzle
in this demonstration, as it is then easier to ensure that release of pressure
and ejection of the cooled air follow each other very closely. The water
vapour is most clearly seen against a dark background.

3. BOILING A LIQUID UNDER REDUCED PRESSURE

About 1 em" of water or other liquid is drawn into the syringe, then a very
little air. The nozzle is closed and the syringe held nozzle end upwards, so
that the water covers the end of the plunger. The plunger is gradually
drawn out, and as the pressure falls in the syringe the liquid begins to boil.
Liquids of different vapour pressures may be compared, but care must be
taken that the liquids are not solvents of the material of the syringe.

4. DEMONSTRATION OF HYDRAULIC PRESSURE

Two syringes are half filled with coloured water, and their nozzles joined by
a piece of tubing. Pressure on one plunger will then push out the other.
If syringes of different sizes are used, the apparatus provides a demonstra-
tion of the principle of the hydraulic ram, as movement over a short distance
of the plunger in the larger syringe causes movement over a greater distance
of the plunger of the smaller syringe, the ratios depending on the internal
diameters of the syringes.

The above applications of syringes were discovered by free experiment by

children of various ages, and there are doubtless many more still to be found.

An intermittent siphon
ALAN WARD

It's fun to enliven a study of siphons with an automatic model which 'flushes'
at regular intervals. The diagram almost explains itself . . . Water, trickling
through a small hole in the tin's bottom, falls through the 'hand-hole' of the
laboratory stool, into a glass funnel. However, the funnel contains a rubber
tubing 'siphon' shaped like a question mark, with its 'hump' well below the
funnel's rim.
The water-dyed lemonade-colour with fluorescein-collects in the funnel
at first. Then, when the water rises above the bend in the tubing, it begins
to siphon down into the milk bottle. Soon the siphon stops-and only starts
again when the funnel is nearly filled, as before. The device is excellent for
40 PRESSURE

stimulating discussion, and perhaps it can be adapted as a display item for

'Open Evening'.

1\

A wider range Boyle's law apparatus for class use

w. K. MACE
This adaptation of a standard pattern combines large working height (range
o to 2 atmospheres excess pressure) with reasonable storage size. Capillary
tubing is used, and wide rubber tubing under the screw press.
For storage, the upper narrow board slides down into the lower one, and
the upper length of tubing folds down the back of the apparatus. For use,
the sliding board is raised and secured by a dowel peg, then the upper capil-
lary tube is swung up and held at the top in a Terry clip. The piece of wide
rubber tubing at the top of the apparatus is an overflow reservoir to prevent
spilling of mercury if the level should be raised incautiously.
The simplest form of slide is to have the wide board in the form of two pieces
of hardboard separated by two vertical pieces of wood. If a scale is to be
 PRESSURE 41

marked on the instrument, it is best to make it an upward scale terminating

with '100 em' level with the top of the wide board. Then for levels in the
upper part of the tube, a metre rule can be stood on top of the board, and
only the addition of 100 is needed to make its readings conform with the
lower ones.

p - V relationship for gases

R. A. HANDS

The usual 'Boyle's law' apparatus using mercury is bulky, expensive, needs
much mercury and can conveniently cover only a small range of pressures in
one experiment. A much simpler apparatus commonly used for verifying
Charles's law consists of a capillary tube sealed at one end (e.g. with wax),
containing some gas enclosed by a mercury index. My apparatus simply
extends this tube so that it can contain a much greater length of mercury, and
allows its inclination to be varied, up to complete inversion if desired. The
MPM-D
42 PRESSURE

pressure on the enclosed gas is varied, in consequence, both above and below
atmospheric pressure. The amount to be added to or subtracted from the
barometric height is found most readily as the difference in the heights of the
ends of the mercury column, measured from a levelled beam if neither bench
nor floor is adequately horizontal. The volume of the enclosed gas is as
usual taken to be proportional to its length.
An apparatus 150 em long could contain, say, 50 em of mercury and, at
atmospheric pressure, about 30 em of air, so that no very small length need
be measured. A pivoted beam can support it. The bore of the tube should
be 0.5 mm or less if all segmentation of the mercury is to be avoided.
Apart from the advantages of simplicity and cheapness (shorter versions
can provide a useful class experiment) the small volume of gas used ensures
that thermal equilibrium is quickly attained even after complete inversion of
the tube, so that the whole experiment can be brief.

A class apparatus for Boyle's law

D. J. LUCAS

The nozzle of a plastic syringe is permanently sealed by heating and then

squeezing it with a pair of pliers. The syringe is supported by a plank or
suitable stool top having an oval hole so that the flanges of the syringe barrel

Plank
(or stool top)

Bucket
I
 PRESSURE 43

rest on the wood, but to allow clearance for a wire loop passing through two
small holes drilled in the top of the plunger and down each side of the syringe,
to join below the handle of an ordinary domestic plastic bucket.
The volume of the air can be read off for various weights of water in the
bucket. Knowing the area of the plunger the weight gives the extra pressure
applied to the gas. The range of pressure (several atmospheres) depends on
the size of syringe and bucket chosen.
Some care must be exercised in choosing syringes where the plungers
move fairly easily, but we have found that if the plunger is pushed in slightly
after each increase in load and allowed to recover before the volume is read,
then satisfactory results are obtained.
Archimedes' Principle: the Cartesian diver

Archimedes' Principle
w. K. MACE and M. J. PIPES

This device is used to illustrate (i) that the liquid surrounding a displacing
body exerts pressure on that body, and (ii) that the resultant thrust is just
sufficient to support the weight of the 'missing' liquid.
The demonstrator's hand is covered with a loose bag formed by a large
sheet of cellophane, and thrust into water in a glass tank. Attempts to dilate
the bag under water by extending the fingers results in a very obvious 'dint-
ing' of the cellophane in between the fingers, showing the inward thrust of
the water.
Next, the bag is removed from the hand and partly filled with slightly
coloured water. On lowering the bag into the tank, it achieves almost perfect
equilibrium when the surfaces inside and out are level. One has, in fact,
brought to life the well-known textbook diagram.

Teaching Archimedes
E. M. ROYDS-JONES

1. The cylinder and bucket experiment to demonstrate the Principle of

Archimedes is a neat experiment, but I gave up this demonstration after my'
first teaching year. By the time a boy is mature enough really to appreciate
the experiment he ought already to have done the Principle of Archimedes.
2. A favourite demonstration is to hang an object from a spring balance
 ARCHIMEDES' PRINCIPLE: THE CARTESIAN DIVER 45

while it is immersed in a 'eureka can', so that the upthrust and displacement

can be measured simultaneously. This has the advantage that the principle
can be shown to be true when a body is only partly immersed, and is satis-
factory for the more intelligent pupil. For the not-so-bright pupil the experi-
ment is much clearer if separated into its two halves. First the upthrust is
found by weighing in air and then when totally immersed. Then as a separate
experiment the displaced water is collected and weighed. Its weight must
never be found by measuring its volume and then converting em" to grammes
because this nearly always leads to the statement that the upthrust equals the
volume displaced.
3. Small 'eureka cans' can be made from plastic pots, such as those that
contain yoghurt, by softening the plastic with steam and drawing out a spout;
then each pupil or pair of pupils can do the experiment separately. Water
does not wet the plastic, and it piles up at the outlet owing to the convex
meniscus. A drop of detergent makes it flow out freely.
4. The object must sink in water, and for the best results its volume
should be big and its weight small. A potato makes an ideal object. It is only
slightly denser than water and can be cut the right size for the pot. It is hung
either on a hook of thin wire or else by 'sewing' it with needle and thread.

The densities of aniline and water

C. G. HANSON

While performing the well-known demonstration of the differing expansion

coefficients of water and aniline recently, I thought of a 'new' approach.
Instead of adding the cold aniline from a burette to cold water in a SOO-cm3
beaker, watching it sink and then heating with a Bunsen burner to observe
the magic temperature when the densities of the two liquids become the same
and the spherules hang weightless, I thought out the following variations
which do not require the heating of aniline.
Add a drop or two of aniline to a SOO-cm3beaker, half-filled with water,
and then dissolve sufficient sodium chloride to make the aniline float. Now
carefully pour cold water on to a floating cork in the beaker, thus establishing
a density gradient up the beaker. The aniline spherules of course now hang
weightless at the level where their densities are the same as the salt water.
Now adjust the burette orifice to the level of the suspended spherules and
carefully open the tap. A weightless aniline sphere now grows and more
aniline can be added to the burette if required.
Using this method I have grown spherules up to 10 em diameter before
running out of aniline, which is recovered afterwards using a separating
funnel.
46 ARCHIMEDES' PRINCIPLE: THE CARTESIAN DIVER

On completion of the above, which takes about five minutes, class discussion
is almost limitless, covering density, Archimedes' Principle, weightlessness
in space, surface tension, the shape of the earth (the 'sphere' is not in fact
spherical), the solubility of so-called immiscible liquids, expansion co-
efficients and Stokes' law (viscosity).
All the students I have shown this demonstration to have been fascin-
ated and I have even been offered money to buy more aniline and hence
produce even larger spheres!

Principle of flotation: poser and solution

W. OXLEY

A man sits in a boat containing a large boulder, floating on a pond: he drops

the boulder overboard. Does this result in the level of the pond rising, falling,
or staying the same? Such a question can provoke much thought in a class
and really test their understanding of the principle of flotation; it is also useful
because through investigating the problem experimentally a spectacular
result can be obtained.

The situation is reconstructed by substituting in place of the boat a test-

tube floating in a measuring cylinder, and by replacing the boulder by lead
shot. The result is as shown in the figure.
A narrow measuring cylinder helps to ensure that the test-tube floats in an
upright position.
 ARCHIMEDES' PRINCIPLE: THE CARTESIAN DIVER 47

A ball-operated Cartesian diver

ALAN WARD

An interesting version of the Cartesian diver can be improvised from an air-

tight flexible plastic bottle made slightly less dense than water by having
pellets of lead shot put inside. We used a small Clinic shampoo bottle. Put
the prepared bottle inside a tall sweet jar filled with water, before pressing
directly down upon the water with a plastic toy ball having a diameter 3 or 4
centimetres greater than the jar's neck.
Hand pressure on the ball, transmitted by water, squeezes the bottle into
a smaller volume and compresses air in the bottle. This makes the bottle's
overall density greater than the density of water-so the bottle 'diver' sinks.
Easing pressure on the ball allows air in the bottle to expand. As a result, the
bottle regains its original volume and lower density-and comes to the
surface.

A manometer-controlled Cartesian diver

E. J. HARRIS

The Cartesian diver is made in the usual way-an inverted miniature test-
tube containing air and water, and with a suitable length of copper wire
wound round at the base; this is placed in a gas jar or flask nearly full of

Thistle
tunnet

Water
48 ARCH-IMEDES' PRINCIPLE: THE CARTESIAN DIVER

water. The amount of air and copper wire should be adjusted so that the
diver just sinks, and the adjustable water manometer is then connected as in
the diagram.
The diver can then be made to rise by lowering the right-hand limb of the
manometer. It is best to have a considerable length of rubber tubing to make
sure that the pressure can be altered sufficiently for the diver to move.
Surface tension

Surface tension
J. GOSTELOW

The effect of a liquid synthetic detergent on surface tension can quickly be

shown by adding flowers of sulphur to a gas jar full of water. The sulphur
floats on the surface but if a drop of synthetic liquid detergent is added the
sulphur is seen to sink immediately. I use this experiment to demonstrate
one of the cleansing properties of soap in removing dirt particles.

A simple demonstration of surface tension

A. S. REYNOLDS

Drop a spot of 'Correcting Fluid', used with wax stencils, on to the surface of
water in a dish. There is an immediate spreading over the water and a
resulting circular patch of red wax is seen.

Simple surface tension demonstration

R. D. HARRIS

Here is yet another suggested use for an empty plastic 'Sqezy' (or similar)
container.
A suitable frame is made from stout copper wire (e.g. 16 s.w.g.). It con-
sists of a length of wire bent round into a circle of 6 cm diameter, across
which is soldered a 6-cm length of straight wire, forming a diameter. The
midpoint of this diameter is soldered on to the top of a vertical wire about
10 em long, so that the circular frame is horizontal. The lower end of the
vertical wire is stuck into a cork which is fitted into the neck of the container.
The plastic container fits nicely into a gas jar, internal diameter 7 ern,
depth 40 ern. A suitable volume of water is poured into the gas jar, and the
plastic bottle is nearly filled with water, the exact amount being adjusted so
50 SURFACE TENSION

that the bottle floats in equilibrium with the horizontal wire frame well out
of the water.
If the assembly is now pushed down so that the horizontal wire frame
enters the water surface, it should be found that the frame will be retained at
the surface instead of rising to its original level when the finger is withdrawn.
This demonstrates clearly the presence of surface tension forces. If a few
drops of detergent are now added, the frame immediately rises out of the
surface.

8
r-6cm~
I
 SURFACE TENSION 51

Surface tension and the hydrostatic paradox

c. B. SPURGIN

10 em of 6-mm tubing is heated at its centre, held sideways to a bat's wing

flame, to confine the heating. It is then drawn into capillary tube with
'sudden' shoulders, and cut in two. (See Fig. below left.)
One tube is immersed to A, so that water rises to B. It is then raised to
the position shown. Water remains at C. The other tube is immersed as
shown, and gives the small rise appropriate to a wide tube.
In capillary rise it is the radius at the meniscus level which matters. When
finding surface tension by capillary rise, the tube should be broken at the
meniscus level and its diameter measured with a travelling microscope.

Tubing

Surface tension by capillary 'rise' for mercury

c. B. SPURGIN

Tube A is lowered until the reduced pressure in the capillary tube overcomes
the capillary depression of the mercury and brings it up to the surface level
at C. (See Fig. above right.) The pressure difference h between the levels in
B and A equals the capillary depression which would occur if the pressure in
the tube were atmospheric.
52 SURFACE TENSION

Surface tension phenomena: an analogue

w. K. MACE
Searching for some means of illustrating how intermolecular forces cause a
drop of liquid to assume a spherical shape, it occurred to me that soap
bubbles floating on the surface of water show a marked attraction at close
range, but at appreciable distances ignore one another completely. On look-
ing more closely at the behaviour of bubble rafts, one finds that not only can
the process of drop formation be usefully illustrated, but capillary effects can
also be shown. The model has proved useful in O-level work, where a very
simple treatment is required, and also in the sixth form as a support to
explanations in terms of potential energy.
E

o
A
o
B

Glass blocks

Bubbles may be blown conveniently by means of a small glass jet attached

to the gas supply and held under the surface of water containing a little
detergent. As the elasticity of the gas in the tube tends to cause rather large
bubbles to be formed, it is best to control the rate of gas flow with a burette
clip near to the jet rather than with the more distant gas tap. It is important,
too, that the bubbles are not of uniform size, since then they form themselves
into a very rigid hexagonal packing which is ideal for showing dislocations
in metals but quite useless for the present purpose. Non-uniform bubbles
can be produced simply by moving the jet erratically about under the surface.
 SURFACE TENSION S3

The diagram shows what one can illustrate with this model. Bubbles A
and B will approach one another very slowly, then when quite close will
accelerate rapidly and cling together. A raft of elongated form can be made
momentarily by manipulating a glass rod; any bubbles which are 'out on a
limb', such as C, D and E, have a clear tendency to ride around their neigh-
bours in such a way that the raft quickly assumes a more circular shape.
Finally, if two clean glass blocks are made to touch the surface of a large
raft, one can watch how the attraction of bubbles for glass results in a pre-
ferred spreading over the glass surface causing the meniscus shapes shown
and an appreciable travel into the space between the blocks. .
This demonstration is of course much enhanced if done in a transparent
tank on an overhead projector.

Water walls
J. C. SIDDONS

Every child knows that though 'steel sinks' steel pins can be made to float on
water. Steel discs too will float if they are thin enough. Rather late in life I
found this out as follows. We have some solid polystyrene rods, rectangular
in cross-section. The relative density of polystyrene is slightly greater than
one. Some fourth-form girls had been told to weigh the rods in air and then
in water in the usual Archimedes way. They reported that the rods floated.
All disbelief, I went to look: sure enough the rods were floating. Fig. 1
shows why. The water curves down to meet the rod and so the volume of

Fig. 1
8 Fig. 2
~

Fig. 3

water displaced is greater than the volume of the rod. As soon as the lesson
was over I successfully floated discs of aluminium, gramophone records, the
steel diaphragm from headphones and, in spite of four sharp corners, a
microscope slide.
The water, in effect, forms a wall around the edge of the floating disc.
Such water walls also occur when a vessel is overfilled with water (Fig. 2)
and when water drops are formed on metal plates (Fig. 3). The conditions
under which these walls are formed are different and so the heights of the
walls are not equal. The wall is higher in the overfill and drop cases than in
the floating disc case. The walls are curved in a horizontal plane as well as
54 SURFACE TENSION

in the vertical plane. The horizontal curvature in overfill and drop cases is
not much different from the vertical curvature and helps in the formation of
the wall. In the floating disc case the horizontal curvature can be made small
relative to the vertical curvature; moreover the two curvatures are in oppos-
ing directions so the horizontal curvature now weakens the wall but only by
a small amount.
Because the horizontal curvature is relatively negligible in the case of the
floating disc it is possible, as we do below, to work out an equation for the
height of the wall. With the help of this equation from the height of the wall,
and assuming a value for the surface tension of water, we can work out the
angle of contact between water and the disc.

FLOATING DISCS

Small aluminium discs do float but, to make the effect of the horizontal
curvature negligible, bigger discs should be used. With the help of the
Education Officer of the Aluminium Federation I obtained an aluminium
disc 14 em in diameter, 0.42 mm thick. I made no effort to render it com-
pletely grease-free. It was, however, very shiny. A large glass trough was
used to hold the water: it was then possible to check that the disc had been
so floated that there were no air bubbles underneath. A floating disc makes
a pleasing sight; at its periphery the water smoothly curves down. A flat
circular hole has been made in the water. The disc is carefully loaded at its
centre until it sinks. As the loading increases the height of the water wall
Increases.
The disc would nearly always carry a 30-g mass: once it took, without
sinking, a 32-g mass and so we can take 31 g as the mass of the critical load.
The disc itself had a mass of 17 g and so the mass of the total load in the
critical case was -48 g. Thus the critical gravitational force downwards was
48 X 9.8 X 10-3, i.e. 4.7 X 10-1 N.
There are two upward forces on the disc:
1. There is a small upward pull of surface tension along the edge. If the
water met the disc at right angles this pull would be 2nry, where r is the
radius of the disc and y the surface tension of water. In this case the pull
would be 3 X 10-2 N and so the actual pull is a little less than 3 X 10-2 N.
2. The upthrust of the water on the bottom face of the disc. This upthrust
must thus be a little more than 0.47 - 0.03, i.e. 0.44 N.
For water to produce this upthrust on a disc of 14 em diameter requires a
depth of 0.29 em. The disc was 0.04 em thick; thus the height of the water
wall in the critical case is 0.25 em.

THEORY

Fig. 4 shows a section of the water wall. AB is curved but its radius of
curvature, 7 em, is considerably greater than the height h of the water wall,
0.25 em, and so can be neglected. (This is why it is best to work with big
 SURFACE TENSION 55

discs.) Suppose to begin with that the angle of contact, (), is 90°. Consider
the equilibrium of the section. There are two horizontal forces in the plane
of the paper acting on it. The surface tension pull along the line CD equals

Fig. 4

yl, where I is the length of CD. This pull is countered by the thrust due to
water pressure on the face CDEF.
The thrust on an element of this face at a depth x is gplx c5x and so the total

thrust is J: gplx dx, i.e. !gplh2•

Equating these two forces we see that y = !gph2•

If the angle of contact is not 90° but ()then this equation becomes
gph2
y = 2(1 - cos ()'
his 2.5 X 10-3 m, g is 9.8 m S-2, p is 103 kg m-3 and y at room temperature
is 7.4 X 10-2 N m-I• ' Substituting these values we find that () is 54°.
As the load on the disc increases ()increases also. With the disc used, one
not elaborately degreased, () can increase to 54° and not beyond that. The
disc eventually sinks because of the limit to the value of (). If ()could increase
to 90° then h would increase from 0.25 to 0.38 cm.

OVERFILLING

An aluminium tube, external diameter 1.0 em, was carefully overfilled with
water by means of a burette. The height of the top of the water above the
end of the tube was 0.41 em. With a wider tube (a thick brass calorimeter),
the height was slightly less, 0.39 ern. When the narrow tube is used the
bulging of the water over the edge of the tube shown in Fig. 2 is clearly
visible. With glass tubes, e.g. relative density bottles without their stoppers,
the height of overfill is not so great. The angle of contact of water and glass
is different from that of water and metal.
The difference between metal and glass in their effect upon water can be
shown by inserting sheets of glass and metal into water. When the metal
sheet is used, if the last movement made is downwards into the water, then
the water curves downwards as in Fig. Sa: but if the last movement is
56 SURFACE TENSION

upwards then the water curves upwards too as in Fig. 5b. With a sheet of
glass on the other hand the water curves upwards in both cases.

Fig. 5

FLAT WATER DROPS

Allow water to run gently from a burette on to an aluminium plate. If the

drop so formed is small it is spherical in shape. With increase in size the
drops flatten, the shape becomes that of a cylinder with a convex rim. The
height of such drops has a maximum value. As long as the diameter of the
drop does not exceed 3 or 4 em the surface tension holds the drop together
in this cylindrical shape. When the diameter exceeds 4 em the drops tend to
have an irregular periphery.
The maximum height can be measured with the help of a spherometer.
I found that a common value for it was 3.5 mm: the highest value I obtained
was 3.65 mm. For reasons already explained these values are higher than the
height of the water wall in the floating disc case. They are also a little lower
than the height of the water in the overfill case. This difference is accounted
for by the outward bulge of the water in the latter case (see Fig. 2).
Interesting observations can be made with water drops on metal plates.
Big drops readily run about, little drops are hard to move. If the drop is
small enough the plate can be inverted without producing any movement in
the drop. The shape of a small drop changes as the plate tilts (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6
Elasticity

A self-plotting extenso meter

w. K. MACE

The version illustrated is the bare minimum, and is capable of considerable

refinement as regards both mechanics and materials. Its advantage is that it
can be made in an hour entirely from scrap.
Fig. 1 shows the general layout. The 'picture frame' (an old balance-case
front) is fixed with a wing nut to the long board. Its near side is smoked, and
the far side is covered with thin white paper, preferably illuminated from

Smoked
gla.ss
Hacksa
btad« --~I

Guide lath Bench top

Fig. 1

Front of
d namometer board

Clock spring

Fig. 2 Fig. 3
MPM-E
58 ELASTICITY

behind. The board is pushed leftwards along the bench, stretching the
WIre.
The right-hand unit is the dynamometer, and consists of a hacksaw blade
bearing horizontally against two screws in an upright board. The blade
carries a hook which rests on the upper screw to prevent falling, and it is
pressed lightly against the lower screw by a piece of clockspring, to prevent
tipping when not under load. Figs. 2 and 3 show the various fixtures.
The screws are 10 em apart, and the pointer is t m long. These dimensions
give a well-proportioned graph using It m of 30-gauge copper wire.
The only significant friction is that of the pointer against the glass; its
effect can be made quite negligible by tapping the frame continually during
the movements.

Torsion of wires
PETER DIXON

Two forms of apparatus are described in school laboratory manuals, both of

which would appear to be liable to friction. This note describes a simple
arrangement (Fig. 1) in which no friction occurs. Two wires are soldered to
a central boss, their outer ends being fixed. The boss (Fig. 2) is of brass

Angular scale

Meccano pulley

mg

Fig. 1

tube and carries a pulley and an angular scale, the latter being a photo-
copied 360 protractor mounted on a hardboard disc. The weights hung
0

from the pulley to provide the torque also cause some sagging, and it is
therefore. important that the angular scale be read against a mark in the
vertical plane through the wire. In this case the mark is a vertical line on a
piece of Perspex below the wire. By adopting a viewpoint from which the
wire and the engraved mark are lined up, parallax error is prevented.
 ELASTICITY 59

In this arrangement both lengths of wire are under torsion, so that the effec-
tive torsional constant (defined by torque = c X angle of twist) c = C1 + C2.

If the wires are of the same material and gauge, then the effective length is
given by 1/1 = l/h + 1/12, so that, for example, if each wire is 20 em long

10 em diameter Angular scale

hard boa rd disc

~ Meccano pulley

Perspex engraved
with reference mark

Fig. 2

they are equivalent to one wire 10 em long. Using 10-gram slotted weights
the results with 24 s.w.g. constantan are satisfactory, showing complete
elasticity up to 60 gram.
There is a second mode of operation if the apparatus is modified slightly.
A bush (obtained from a broken radio potentiometer) carrying a pointer (a
10-cm length of thin brass tube can be soldered on) is attached to one end of
the wire (see Fig. 3), and the angular scale is supported so that the pointer

~perspex reference marker

Fig. 3

moves over the scale. The central pointer is a null indicator, the mode of
operation being as follows. The bush is turned to bring the central pointer
to its reference mark and the position of the end pointer recorded. The
torque is applied, causing the centre to rotate; the bush is turned in the
60 ELASTICITY

opposite sense to return the central pointer to its reference mark. A second
reading of the scale is taken, the difference between the readings being the
angle of twist.
Provided that the remoter length of wire has not been strained, then there
has been no change of torsion in it, and the experiment is on the nearer
length of wire only. However, the sensitivity of the apparatus requires that
the wires be not too dissimilar.
The torsional constant c is related to the modulus of rigidity of the material
of the wire and to its dimensions. For example, the calculated values for
constantan are:
for 15.6 em of 34 s.w.g., cis 2 X 10-6 N m per degree
for 28.0 em of 38 s.w.g., cis 2 X 10-7 N m per degree.

Crystal models and elasticity

w. BOLTON
1. BUBBLE RAFTS
Crystal models can be made by using marbles or glass beads but they suffer
from a serious defect in that there is no force of attraction between each
'atom'. A better model can be obtained by using bubbles on the surface of a
liquid. The bubbles are produced by allowing water dropping into a flask to

Fig. 1. The production of bubble rafts

 ELASTICITY 61

force air out through a fine tube. Bubbles of about 1 mm diameter are quite
convenient.
First of all the students are asked to examine the bubble raft and consider
whether it is a reasonable crystal model. The various types of dislocations,
i.e. vacancies, impurities (different sized bubbles) and grain boundaries (the
junction between crystals), can clearly be seen. Then forces are applied to the
outer row of bubbles and the resulting motion of the dislocations observed.
The picture the student should have at this stage is of solids made up of
crystals and generally having various dislocations. With care the bubbles or

Fig. 2. Position A zero strain. Position B elastic

limit. Between A and B the sphere will return to A Fig. 3. The production of
when the stress is removed; beyond B it will not glass fibres

marbles can be placed in a perfect array with each bubble or marble having
six close neighbours. Generally, however, there will be defects due to missing
bubbles and also where different rafts join. When a number of crystals grow
in a solution then where the various crystals join up there are defects (grain
boundaries). The atoms at such a grain boundary are attracted by both the
crystals on each side of the boundary and some disorder occurs due to one
attraction being greater than the other. When stress is applied to a group of
perfect crystals the atoms become displaced. This displacement is elastic
until the material has been displaced through a distance corresponding to
the interatomic spacing. Displacements beyond this will give permanent
deformation. This corresponds to quite a high angular strain. Pure metals
are, however, generally soft and deformed very easily, e.g. copper. When
stress is applied to a raft containing dislocations movement of the dislocations
62 ELASTICITY

occurs rather than the sliding of planes of atoms over another and the struc-
ture is considerably weaker. Thus pure metals could be considered to have
such a structure. When another element is added to the metal, i.e. an alloy is
produced, deformation is not so readily produced. For example brass, a
mixture of copper and zinc, is much stronger than its constituents.
2. SIMULATION OF ALLOYS WITH BUBBLE RAFTS
A few different sized bubbles are introduced into a raft of equally sized
bubbles containing the normal dislocations. The raft is observed both before
and after agitation. The 'foreign' bubbles will be found to migrate to the
dislocations and partially block them. Now when a force is applied to the
raft a stronger structure will be found to exist.
This is in fact the action of the 'foreign' elements in an alloy.

3. HIGH STRENGTH FIBRES

High strength materials are produced when the number of dislocations
within a material is reduced. It is possible for students to study this in the
laboratory for glass.
A soda glass rod is heated in a Bunsen flame and a fibre pulled from it.
Without contaminating the ,fibre its tensile strength is measured. This is
quite easy if the end of the soda glass rod is formed into a hook before the
fibre is pulled. A similar fibre is contaminated by handling or exposure to
HCl fumes, etc. The strength will be found to be considerably lower for the
contaminated specimens. If sufficient weights are available the strength of
the original glass rod can be measured. It will be found to be considerably
lower than that of the uncontaminated fibre. These differences in strength
can be ascribed to differences in the number of dislocations present.
NOTE
These experiments are taken from the article 'The teaching of elasticity at
A-level', S.S.R., 1966, 164, 48, 96-102.

The elasticity of rubber

w. c. B"OLTON and G. R. EVANS
For the study of elasticity rubber has the advantage over metals of giving
very large strains within the elastic limit. 'Catapult elastic' sold at toyshops
is suitable.
STATIC YOUNG'S MODULUS

Stress-strain results can be obtained easily by attaching weights to the end

of a length of rubber. The extensions produced by the addition of 250 g
 ELASTICITY 63

masses to a 50-cm length of rubber, nominally 0.6 em square, are easily

measured with a metre rule (Fig. 1). The graph of load against extension is

2.4

2.0
"",."..,.
~'1.6
.,,-~
~ / """""

~ 7·2
»<
~
~
..J 0.8 /
V on~inal
tenq h50cm

~
0.4 V
V
o 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36
Exten.sion in em
Fig. 1. Static loading

not a straight line. If however the graph is replotted stress against strain, a
straight line graph (apart from very small strains) up to a strain of about 2 is
produced. The vital factor is the change in cross-sectional area that occurs
(Fig. 2). It is this factor that is largely responsible for the non-linearity of
the load-extension graph.

Q400~----------~----------~----------~
Original length
SO em

C'{

~u
·S 0.2501t-------------+-----~------t----------__j
~
'" 0.2001------------+-----------~._--------____i

O. 150
0
':--------::-1,. O-:--------=2::-l-:.0::-------::-l3.
0
Load in I<.g
Fig. 2. Change in cross-sectional area with load

If a student is observant he will realize that, on applying a load, the full

extension is not reached immediately but may take up to about a minute
(Fig. 3). Waiting for this time to elapse before taking a reading makes all the
difference between large and small scatter of load-extension results.
64 ELASTICITY

5£~a---~--~--~--~---+--~-- __
~~_.-~
./
"",.,-"""""
5.s.2r---+---+---+ -- ~-t~~-;~~a-~-sr---+-~
I"
1

'·5kg.
55.0 /

S 54.8
V
.J
.s

f/
~S4.6~--#---+---4---4---~---+---+--~
~
·~S4.42

S4. ~/+--r--~--~---r--~---+---+---4

54. 0 10 20 30 40 SO 60 70 80
Time in second
Fig. 3. Creep of rubber under load

For a non-linear stress-strain curve Young's modulus can be defined as the

slope of the curve at the particular strain considered.

NOTE

These experiments are taken from an article 'The elasticity of rubber', S.S.R.,
1967, 167, 49, 207.
Viscosity

Viscosity: the parabolic profile

w. K. MACE

I wish I could give due credit to the originator of this delightful little demon-
stration but unfortunately I cannot recall where I picked it up. It came to
me in the form: 'half of a long cylindrical detergent bottle', and I have made
a larger version of it as shown in the diagram.

~======,,:::::~._==... =====~~B- Section of

acetate
(a) (b)

A long hemicylindrical trough is made by fretsawing slots in two rectangles

of wood, then fixing into the slots a length of fairly thick acetate sheet or
equivalent. The joint may be sealed with Sealastic.
In use, sufficient propane 1, 2, 3-triol (glycerine) is poured in to give a
cross-section which is semicircular, and a streak of ink is made across a central
diameter. On tilting the trough the streak advances in perfect parabolic form,
showing beautifully how the layers in contact with the walls do not move at all.
With care, the streak returns to a straight line 'on righting the trough.
An interesting point, which may not at once be obvious, is that the flow in
a hemicylinder must be identical with that in half of a complete cylinder, so
that this is a genuine picture of flow in a tube.

Modifications to falling-sphere viscometer

R. v. cox

In attempting to slow down the rate of fall of the ball-bearing in this deter-
mination; a quantity of the thickest possible lubricating oil was purchased.
MPM-F
66 VISCOSITY

Unhappily, the specimen was so opaque that the falling sphere could be seen
only with the aid of strong illumination which so heated the oil that the
viscosity decreased rapidly as time passed and temperature rose.
The following method of detecting transits of the 'marks' eventually
evolved, using a simple electronic circuit:

For Terminal Velocity

4
6nr; av ="3 na3 (p - r)g
2 a2 /
. r; = ~- (p-r)g
9 v

2m

I-t-l
4cm

The 'marks' are coils of four turns each of enamelled 22 s.w.g. copper wire
connected in series as the coil of a 'Clapp' Oscillator. The oscillations are
detected either by a Communications Receiver with a Beat-Frequency
Oscillator or by a TRF Receiver. When the ball-bearing passes through the
coil, the self-inductance of the coil changes to such an extent that the audio
note passes out of the audio spectrum and reappears a moment later when
the bearing is clear.
Remaining details of the apparatus are entirely as usual. Descent times of
1 minute can be obtained with 1\ -in diameter ball-bearings.
 VISCOSITY 67

On using bubbles in Stokes' method of measuring the

viscosity of a liquid
PROFESSOR H. L. ARMSTRONG, J. S. BUCHAN and S. FROST

We have tried measuring the viscosity of a liquid by a modification of Stokes'

method [1, 103-4], the terminal velocity measured being that of rising
bubbles, rather than falling solid spheres. The results seem to be good.

Fig. 1. This shows how the apparatus was arranged. The 10-ml graduated cylinder (5-ml might
be even better), from which water forced air to form the bubbles, had been re-worked at the top,
so as to make a stopper fit better

The apparatus used is shown in Fig. 1 and was the same as that in Jaeger's
method of measuring surface tension [1, 99-101], except that:
(i) the manometer for measuring excess pressure was not needed:
(ii) the tube from which the bubbles came dipped deeply into the liquid,
and was bent so as not to get in the way of the bubbles, and
(iii) the vessel from which dropping water forces the air, in order to make
the bubbles, was a graduated cylinder of the 10-ml size.
The liquid used was medicinal mineral oil, of density 0.90 g/cm3• The
bubbles rose one at a time, and 88 bubbles contained 1.00 em- of air. (This
was found, of course, from the amount of water let into the graduated
cylinder to force out the air for the 88 bubbles.) The average terminal
velocity for the bubbles was 2.90 cm/s.
It can be shown [2, 601] that the force, due to viscosity, on a spherical
bubble moving through a liquid is two-thirds as great as that on a solid
68 VISCOSITY

sphere. Thus the viscosity of the oil was found to be 0.198 N s/m''. A
measurement with solid spheres gave the same result.
Whilst the apparatus is more complicated, this method does have the
advantage that there is no fishing of spheres out afterwards. Also, it might
be used with liquids which would corrode metallic spheres. Perhaps this
method might find enough use that it would be worth while for manu-
facturers of Jaeger's apparatus to have available a suitable small graduated
vessel, to replace the larger vessel from which ordinarily the air is displaced
by water.

REFERENCES
1. Avery, J. H., and Ingram, A. W. K., Laboratory Physics (Heinemann, third
edition, 1961).
2. Lamb, Sir Horace, Hydrodynamics (Oxford University Press, sixth edition, 1932).
Bernoulli's Theorem: fluid flow

Demonstrating the Bernoulli effect

ALAN WARD

Build a tall open framework measuring at least 30 em X 30 em X 90 ern.

This can be rapidly improvised in Meccano, or Tinkertoy (a wooden rod and
'block' construction set obtainable through Galt's toyshops). Tinkertoy is
suitable for assembling frameworks and other apparatus quickly, to supply
needs in school physics. But, In the present case-if a tidy design is re-
quired- Tinkertoy would have to be augmented by four metre-long 'i-in'
diameter wooden dowels (see the illustration).
70 BERNOULLI'S THEOREM: FLUID FLOW

Inside the bottom of the framework stand a square metal oven grille on
top of two up-ended housebricks. Then, between the bricks, stand a small
modern electric fan having 'soft' plastic blades (for safety's sake). Such a fan,
operating from the main 200-2S0-volt supply, is made by Pifco. This fan is
mounted on a swivel, and can be swung in a vertical plane through more than
180 degrees. Here, it must be directed upwards. Switch it on.
Now a fast air-stream is blowing up through the tall 'cage without bars'.
A fully inflated big toy balloon that is sealed at the neck with a small metal
paper clip rides up and down in the air-stream-but it does not fly out through
the open framework! Why? Of course the answer is reached through a dis-
cussion of the so-called Bernoulli effect.
The apparatus provides a splendid lecture demonstration, Science Club
project, Open Day exhibit-or simply poses interesting problems. Two
same-size balloons of contrasting colours are entertaining to watch, as they
buffet each other inside the frame (sometimes one of them is 'knocked out'
into the room). It is also possible to levitate a small balloon a little below a
hovering big balloon.
A framework is not essential, but it does enhance presentation of the effect.
The little paper clip on each balloon adds a slight amount of necessary weight.
If the fan has a sufficiently long lead, it can be held in the hand and used to
'fly' a balloon right across the room.

Aeroplane wings: a simple laboratory demonstration

R. w. lOTHAM

The simple system shown in Fig. 1 provides a remarkable and unexpected

demonstration of the manner in which an aeroplane wing provides lift.
When the compressed air is turned on, the loose filter paper below the funnel
does not just blow away. Instead (to the initial amazement and consternation
of the writer) the filter paper leaps up to the funnel. Glass and paper are in

Fig. 1
 BERNOULLI'S THEOREM: FLUID FLOW 71

firm contact around most of the rim of the funnel, and the air escapes in one
small arc over the fluttering paper. A bubbler in the incoming air-lead
shows incredulous students that it is not suction which is being deceptively
applied. The relationship between the suspended filter paper and an aero-
plane wing is shown in Fig. 2.

A~irfIOW ~

AEROPLANE.
WING

SUSPENDED PAPER

Fig. 2

Examples of Bernoulli's theorem

J. R. DARLING

1. THE ACTION OF AN ATOMIZER, OR LADIES' SPRAY

I demonstrate this by blowing a jet of air from a vacuum cleaner across the
top of a glass tube immersed in water. The velocity of the air lowers the
Blast of air from
;-- vacuum cleaner

Fig. 1

pressure above the tube, the atmosphere then pushes the water up the tube
t? the top, where it is swept off by the air blast to produce a fine spray.

2. 'CARDBOARD DISC DEMONSTRATION'

This consists of a metal disc fixed to a tube through which I can project the
blast from the vacuum cleaner. A cardboard disc has three drawing pins
12 BERNOULLI'S ~HEOREM: FLUID FLOW

stuck round its rim so that it can be held against the metal disc but slightly
separated from it. When the air blast is turned on the two discs will adhere
together.

Blast fro;;
vacuum
cleaner
Metal
tube
~
Metald/sc
./
Cardboard Drawing
disc .pin
Fig. 2

The reason for this is that if there is only a narrow gap between the discs,
the attractive force caused by the velocity of the air, and the consequent re-
duction in pressure between the discs, is greater than the repulsive force due
to the momentum of the air hitting the cardboard disc. If the discs are held
further apart the cardboard disc will be blown away, as one would expect.

3. THE STABILITY OF A PING-PONG BALL SUPPORTED ON AN UPWARD

BLAST OF AIR OR JET OF WATER

A ping-pong ball can be supported on an upward blast of air from a vacuum

cleaner and is surprisingly stable. The upward force supporting the ball is
provided by the direct impact of the moving mass of air, but the stability is
explained by Bernoulli's Theorem. If the ball moves slightly to the side, the
velocity of the air on one side of the ball is greater than that on the other, and
the resulting pressure difference pushes the ball back into the stream.

Blastofair
from
vacuum
cleaner

Fig. 3

A water jet can be used instead of air, but, inside the laboratory, makes
rather a mess!
Miscellaneous

The Robert Boyle oil film experiment

R. BALDWIN

.This experiment to measure the approximate length of a molecule of olive oil

is one which it is hoped will induce a feeling of surprised wonder in any child
with an appreciation of the purpose of the exercise.
However, the brimming trays with their waxing and scrubbing, the de-
mands of levelling and bulky storage, must intimidate a teacher in average
circumstances. Average circumstances implies classes of thirty odd, no large
storage space and no laboratory assistant. The technician or shared tech-
nician will have no time between streams for meticulous cleaning of the
waxed trays, and their subsequent careful storage. The inevitable flooding
which goes on with this experiment even when teachers try the experiment,
makes it perhaps best only to demonstrate Robert Boyle's surface scraping
with a brimming tray. The experiment provides plenty of challenge in being
performed with a modified tray.

Mr T. Hemming suggested apparatus which makes the experiment much

easier to perform. It has proved a great help for more average children.
A loosely slotted 30-cm square rack made from small batten and dowel is
placed on the bench. A clean 40-cm 2 sheet of black polythene costing very
little per experiment is placed on the frame and clean water poured in from
a beaker. Black agricultural polythene can be got quite cheaply in a tight
clean roll 120 em wide. The experiment is performed in the usual way and
at the end the four corners of the polythene can be gathered up, the water
carried to a sink and allowed to flow away. The experiment can be readily
repeated with the same wet piece of material provided the tap flows briefly
74 MISCELLANEOUS

over it. The experiment will also 'go' again if the polythene is kept dry on
one side, then placed back in the frame dry side up. The class can be warned
against handling any part of their sheet except the unused edges. The used
polythene can be discarded and the frames dismantled and packed into a
small space much more realistic in normally cramped quarters.
The necessity of a thoroughly clean surface will be found by the children
if they try to sweep the dish clean with a dragged paper towelling strip.

'The splash of a drop'

N. W. ALLISON

I was asked by a pupil, E. Reeve-a keen photographer-if I thought it

possible, with simple apparatus, to take instantaneous photographs. I know
MISCELLANEOUS 75
76 MISCELLANEOUS

very little about photography, but I did remember the book published by the
SPCK and entitled The Splash of a Drop. The author was Professor A. M.
Worthington, FRS. I was able to get this book and also Vol. I of Nature in
which further details are given of the way in which, as far back as 1894,
'instantaneous' photographs were taken.
Reeve set up his apparatus using, broadly speaking, the apparatus des-
cribed by Worthington for the photography of a drop falling into a liquid.
Reeve used water falling into milk.
The experiment is performed in darkness, the camera shutter being open
all the time.
The Leyden jar L is charged from a Wimshurst machine.
On releasing the switch A, the electromagnet B ceases to be energized and
the iron blocks C and D are released.
The elastic bands E and F catapult C and D upwards at great speed.
This leaves the drop of water G (which is on a smoked watch-glass) and
the ball-bearing H, in mid-air.
The drop falls into the beaker. The ball-bearing falls through the.frame I
and in passing through, completes the Leyden jar circuit, thus causing a
spark at J (of very short duration).
This is photographed by- the camera, which is placed near the beaker.
The light from the spark was concentrated on to the surface of the liquid by
means of a concave metal mirror (not shown).
The timing of the spark, relative to the fall of the drop, may be altered by
raising or lowering the frame I.
The series of photographs shown here was obtained by this means.

Energy transformations: a Meccano flywheel-driven trolley

w. K. MACE

This was originally made as an example of a low-friction bearing, but turned

out instead to have unexpected potentialities in a different field.
The axle of the 7.S-cm pulleys (fitted with tyres to increase the moment of
inertia) rides on the rims of four S-cm wheels. The grip between axle and
wheels is sufficient for the device to work well as a high-geared flywheel
drive.
A long strip of hardboard humped into hills and valleys enables inter-
changes between kinetic and potential energy to be watched in slow motion.
The trolley may also be given a store of energy by spinning the flywheel,
when it will haul itself up a ramp. After rolling down a ramp on to the bench,
it will do work by slowly pushing a block of wood along the surface, and
furthermore it will push the block just the same distance if the flywheel is
 MISCELLANEOUS 77

taken off its bearings and used simply as part of the weight. (This surprised
the class, who thought that if the wheel was not spinning, there could not be
as much kinetic energy.)

Side view Top view

An energetic 'noddy-peg'
ALAN WARD

An amusing toy 'noddy-peg' that is easy to make will illustrate the conversion
of potential energy into kinetic energy.
Wind half of a 20-cm length of stiff, but not too heavy, galvanized iron
wire around a pencil, to form an object like a spring having a tail. This
'spring' should easily slide down a O.S-cm diameter wooden dowel rod. The
dowel can be as much as 1 m tall, and mounted, upright, in a wood-block
base. Complete the device by fixing a clothes peg on the 'tail' end of the
wire, as shown in the figure.
Start the noddy-peg going, by fitting the spring over the dowel's top and
giving the peg a gentle downward press, before releasing it. The peg vibrates,
or 'nods', which causes it to proceed basewards rather slowly. Each time the
spring slips, some of its potential energy is changed into kinetic energy,
which jerks the peg and keeps it vibrating.
But the noddy-peg itself can be developed and investigated. What effect
has changing the length of the tail? Can a noddy-peg be adapted as a timer?
How might different sorts of wire (or a metal rod instead of the dowel) alter
performance? Mr J. C. Siddons notes that the peg can be dispensed with, if
78 MISCELLANEOUS

the wire is long enough-and he reports that a girl pupil charmingly suggests
replacing the peg with a 'little tinkle bell'.

To find the mass of Sir's car

w. H. JARVIS

The stiffness of the suspension springs is first found. Two or three pupils,
whose weight (in N) is known, step on to the back bumper, whilst the de-
pression so produced is measured, if possible to the nearest mm. The stiff-
ness in N m-I is required. Next the period of natural vibration is found; one
or two pupils keep the vehicle 'bouncing' at its natural frequency whilst
another pupil times, say, 50 'bounces'. This looks bad to passers by, but is
easily shown to be less harmful than a bumpy drive. (Pets should be removed
before this part of the experiment!) If ())is the angular frequency of the
'bounces' (w = 2nf), the mass of the car is given by the usual formula for
s.h.m. of a mass on a spring.
restoring force per unit displacement
m = 2 •
W
Index

Acceleration, 1 Manometer, 47
Accelerometer, 8 Mercury, surface tension of, 51
Aeroplane wings, 70 Mini-chamber, 12
Alloys, 62 Moments, 20
Aniline, density of, 46 Momentum, 12, 21
Atmospheric pressure, 33, 36, 37
Atomizer, 71
Newton's second law, 12, 14
Newton's third law, 16, 19
Balloons, 17, 69 Noddy pegs, 77
Balls, ping-pong, 72
Boyle's law, 40-2
Bubble rafts, 52, 60, 67 Oil film, 73

Car, mass of, 78 Parabolic profile, 65

Centre of gravity, 22 Pascal's Principle, 36
Crystal model, 60 Pendulum, compound, 29
Potential energy, 77
Projectile, 5
Dislocations, 61
Dynamics trolleys, 14
Resultant of forces, 26
Rubber, elasticity of, 62
Equilibrium, 25, 26
Eureka can, 45
Extensometer, 57 Scalers, 2
Sellotape, pressure experiments, 37
Siphon, 39
Fibres, high strength, 62 Spirit level as accelerometer, 9
Flotation, 46
Stokes' method, 67
Fluid flow, 77 Swinging spheres, 21
Flywheels, 27, 76
Syringes, 38, 42
Force of jet, 11
Free fall, 2
Frequency of vibrator, 7 Ticker tape vibrator, 6, 7
Topplers, 30
Torque-meter, 23
g, 2 Torsion of wires, 58
Trajectory, 5
Hydrostatic paradox, 51 Trolleys, 14
Turbine, 18
Turntable, 7
Impulses, 14
Vacuum, 35, 39
Jets, 11, 15, 18 Viscometer, 65

Levitation, 19 Young's modulus, 62