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Name:
Group members:
Date:
Instructor:
1. Add 3.00 cm at 180. and 5.00 cm at 53.1 using the graphical method. Use the
space below to draw the vectors.
Physics 71.1
2. Add 3.00 cm at 180. and 5.00 cm at 53.1 again, but now using the component
method. Show all calculations below, and compute for the percent error of the
values measured in the previous item with respect to the calculated values.
3. A 1.00 N force is located at 30.0 , and another 1.00 N force is at 150. . Determine
the magnitude and direction of the resultant and equilibrant forces.
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EXPERIMENT
Addition of Vectors
Objectives
In this experiment, the student is expected to:
show that the sum of forces acting on a system in static equilibrium is zero.
obtain the equilibrant of two or more forces.
obtain the orthogonal components of a force.
Introduction
Vectors
Many quantities in physics cannot be appropriately represented by just numbers. Quantities such as velocity, acceleration, and force, need to be represented with a direction. For
this purpose, we use vectors. Vectors are quantities with both magnitude and direction.
Vectors are usually represented by letters with an arrow on top, such as ~v , ~a, and
~
F . They can be expressed in words, such as five meters per second downward, or as a
magnitude with angular direction, such as 5 m/s, 37 o from the +x-axis.
When operating with vectors, most of the time it is more convenient to express it
using its component vectors. Using Cartesian coordinates, a vector can be divided into
its x- and y-components:
V~ = V~x + V~y
= Vx + Vy
= V cos + V sin
Addition of Vectors
Some vectors, when they are parallel to each other, are simple to add. We can add
5 m eastward and 2 m westward, knowing that they are opposite directions, by just
subtracting one from another. The result can easily be obtained as 3 m eastward.
However, when the vectors being added are no longer parallel, this method will not
work anymore. For these case, two methods are presented below, the graphical method
and the component method.
Addition of Vectors
Physics 71.1
Component Method To use the component method, vectors must first be expressed into component form. This can be done by calculating the sine and cosine of the
angular direction of the vector, and multiplying the result to the magnitude of the vector.
After obtaining the components of the vectors, just add separately the values per
~ and B
~
component, similar to what is done for parallel vectors. As an example, vectors A
in component form are:
4
Introduction
Physics 71.1
~ = Ax + Ay
A
= A cos + A sin
~ = Bx + By
B
= B cos + B sin
~ as:
Adding their components separately, we can get their resultant, R,
~ =A
~+B
~
R
= (Ax + Bx ) + (Ay + By )
So, Rx = Ax + Bx and Ry = Ay + By . To obtain the resultants magnitude, the
Pythagorean theorem can be used:
~ =
|R|
q
Rx2 + Ry2
Ry
Rx
F~i
(1)
In this experiment, forces are studied through the use of the force table. When using
the force table, forces acting on a ring are represented by strings, whose direction or angle
can be easily measured using the markings on the force table. Read the angular position
directly above the string, to avoid parallax error. The string provides a tension whose
magnitude can be obtained from the weight connected to it.
Addition of Vectors
Physics 71.1
Materials
The following materials are required for the experiment:
Force table with accompanying weights, hangers, pulleys, string, and ring
Level
Ruler
Protractor
Digital balance
Procedure
Equilibrant of one force
1. Attach a mass with a total of around 150 g (including its hanger) to a string, and
place it at 80 . Compute for its weight in newtons. This will be F~1 .
6
Materials
Physics 71.1
2. Find the equilibrant force of F~1 by attaching another string with another set of
masses.
3. Write the angles and masses in Table W1.
Components of a force
1. Attach a mass with a total of around 150 g (including its hanger) to a string, and
place it at 220 . Compute for its weight in newtons. This will be F~1 .
2. To find the x- and y-components of F~1 , attach strings with masses at 0 and 90 .
Adjust the masses until it balances.
3. Complete Table W3.
Addition of Vectors
Physics 71.1
Date:
Instructor:
Data Sheet
F~1
Magnitude (N)
F~1
Magnitude (N)
Questions
1. Using the graphical method for F~1 and F~2 in Table W2, find the magnitude and
direction of the equilibrant force. Obtain the percent error from the value you wrote
in Table W2. Use 1 cm = 1 N as scale.
Procedure
Physics 71.1
2. Find the equilibrant force for the same vectors as the question above, except now,
use the component method. Obtain the percent error of the value you wrote in
Table W2.
3. Complete Table W4, using the values in Table W3. In computing for the theoretical
values, use the tabulated values of the magnitude and angle of F~1 .
Table W4: Comparison of the components of F~equilibrant
Experimental (N) Theoretical (N) Percent error
F~equilibrant,x
F~equilibrant,y
4. Give one advantage and one disadvantage for each of the two methods for adding
vectors.
Addition of Vectors