Name Period Date

Chapter 11: Rotational Equilibrium Balanced Torques and CG

39 Solitary Seesaw

Purpose
To identify the forces, lever arms, and torques for a system in rotational
equilibrium

Required Equipment/Supplies
meterstick
2 knife-edge lever clamps
set of slotted masses
2 mass hangers
fulcrum
string or masking tape

Discussion

Activity
Gravity pulls on every part of an object. The average position of these
pulls (the weight) is the center of gravity (CG) of the object. The sum of
all these pulls is the weight of the object. The entire weight of the object
is effectively concentrated at its CG. The CG of a uniform meterstick is at
the geometric center—the 50-cm mark.
In this experiment you will use a meterstick as a seesaw and com-
pute the mass of an unknown mass using the balanced torque equation,
F1d1 = F2d2. Then you will simulate a “solitary” seesaw by balancing the
weight of a meterstick with a known weight.

Procedure
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Step 1: Balance the meterstick horizontally with nothing

hanging from it. Record the position of the CG of the meterstick.

position of the meterstick CG = __________

50 cm

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 Using a string or weight hanger, attach a unknown mass such as a rock
on one side of the fulcrum at the 90-cm mark as shown in Figure A.
Place a known mass on the other side to balance the meterstick. Record
the known mass and its position.

mass = ___________ position = __________

? ?
Unknown Mass
Known Mass at 90-cm Mark

Step 2: Measure the distances from the fulcrum to each mass.

d1 = distance from fulcrum to known mass = __________

d2 = distance from fulcrum to unknown mass = __________

These two distances are known as lever arms. The lever arm is the (per-
pendicular) distance from the fulcrum to the imaginary line that passes
through the force (called the line of action) of the force. Write down the
equation for the balanced torques with the known values. Calculate the
unknown mass.

equation: ________________________________________

masscalculated = ________________________________________

Step 3: Measure the unknown mass using a balance or spring scale.

1. How does your calculated value compare with your measured value
of the unknown mass?

Step 4: Place the fulcrum exactly on the 85-cm mark. Balance the meter-
stick using a single known mass that you hang between the 90-cm and
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95-cm mark as in Figure B. Record the mass used and its position.

Fig. B

known mass = __________ g distance = __________ cm

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 Name Period Date

Step 5: Identify the lever arms, forces and resulting torques for this soli-
tary seesaw. This is not as easy as it was for Step 2. In that case, the lever
arms and forces were clearly visible and easy to discern. There’s clearly
a force on the right side of the fulcrum causing a clockwise torque.
But what about the balancing torque on the left side of the fulcrum?
Remember, since the meterstick is in rotational equilibrium, the sum of
the torques is zero, so there must be a counter-clockwise torque balanc-
ing it. Clearly identify the forces and the distance the forces are from the
fulcrum for each side.

known mass = __________ g distance = __________ cm

unknown mass = __________ g distance = __________ cm

Analysis
2. Use F1d1 = F2d2 to calculate the location of the CG for the meterstick
in the solitary seesaw. How does it compare with your results in
Step 1? Compute the percent error.

3. What fraction of the mass of the meterstick is on the right side of the
fulcrum?
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4. What fraction of the mass of the meterstick is on the left side of the
fulcrum?

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 5. How much of the mass of an object behaves as if it is located at the CG?

© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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