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Lab Report 1 Vectors Practicals

The experiment aimed to find the weight of an unknown body using the parallelogram law of vector addition. Weights were suspended from three hangers in a Gravesend's apparatus to form a parallelogram, with the unknown weight balancing the other two. The positions of the weights were marked and lines drawn to form a parallelogram. The magnitude of the resultant vector gave the unknown weight. Results showed the unknown weight was equal to the sum of the other two weights, as predicted by the parallelogram law.

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Shaurya Alapati
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452 views4 pages

Lab Report 1 Vectors Practicals

The experiment aimed to find the weight of an unknown body using the parallelogram law of vector addition. Weights were suspended from three hangers in a Gravesend's apparatus to form a parallelogram, with the unknown weight balancing the other two. The positions of the weights were marked and lines drawn to form a parallelogram. The magnitude of the resultant vector gave the unknown weight. Results showed the unknown weight was equal to the sum of the other two weights, as predicted by the parallelogram law.

Uploaded by

Shaurya Alapati
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Shaurya Sai Alapati 1

Parallelogram Law Practical Application


Aim: The aim of the experiment in the lab was to find the weight of an unknown given body,
using the parallelogram law of vector addition.

Apparatus: Gravesend’s apparatus, three hangers, weights, thin strong thread, white drawing
paper, mirror strip, sharp pencil, half metre scale, set squares, protractor.

Theory: If the body of unknown weight W suspended from middle hanger, balances weights
P and Q suspended from other two hangers, then P + Q + W= 0
Or W= - (P+ Q)
W= |R| (R –resultant vector)
The unknown weight must have a magnitude equal to the resultant of the other two known weights.

Procedure:
1. Set up the Gravesend’s apparatus with its board vertical
2. Fix the white drawing paper on the board
3. Put a thread over the rims of the pulleys and attach some weights P and Q at the end.
4. Tie another thread at the middle of the thread passing over the pulleys and attach a known
weight S in such a way that the knot is nearly in the middle
5. Mark the position of the junction as O
6. Keeping mirror strip length wise under each thread, mark the position of the ends the image
of the thread in the mirror, covering the image by the thread (this removes parallax error). The
position is P1 and P2 for the thread of weight P, Q1 and Q2 for the thread of weight Q, and S1
and S2 for thread of weight S.
7. Remove the paper from the board.
8. Draw the lines through points P1 and P2 to represent P, through points Q1 and Q2 to represent
Q, and through points S1 and S2 to represent S. These lines must meet at point O.
9. Taking a suitable scale (say, 1cm = 10 gwt), represent P and Q.
10. Complete parallelogram OACB and join OC. It represents R.
11. Calculate the magnitude of the resultant vector.
12. Calculate the weight of the body
13. Repeat the experiment with unequal weights on both sides.

Result: The weight of a given body = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ g wt.


Precautions:
1. The table should be stable and vertical.
2. The pulleys should be frictionless.
3. The weights should not touch the board but hang freely.
4. Points should be marked with a sharp pencil.
5. Junction O should be at the middle of the paper.
Shaurya Sai Alapati 2

Sources of Error:
1. Pulleys may have friction.
2. Weights may not be accurate.
3. Points may not be marked correctly.

Diagrams:
Shaurya Sai Alapati 3
Shaurya Sai Alapati 4

Serial Scale Force Sides Resultant Weight


No. P Q OA OB OC Force R W
(g wt) (g wt) (cm) (cm) (cm) (g wt) (g wt)
1. 1cm – 20 g 100 100 5 5 4.7 94 94
wt
2. 1 cm – 10 g 70 70 7 7 9.3 93 93
wt
3. 1 cm – 10 g 60 60 6 6 9.3 93 93
wt

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