QUESTION

Text
Image


Students are going to perform an experiment to determine the mass $M$ of a long uniform metal rod of length $L$. The experiment must use a setup which consists of a pivot of negligible friction and the uniform rod, as shown. The students do not have access to a scale of any kind, but they have access to a set of known masses and other equipment commonly found in a high school physics laboratory. The students are expected to find the mass of the rod by plotting their data in a graph.


negligible friction and the uniform rod, as shown. The students do not have access to a scale of any kind, but they have access to a set of known masses and other equipment commonly found in a high school physics laboratory. The students are expected to find the mass of the rod by plotting their data in a graph. (a) Identify each quantity to be measured, the symbol used to represent that quantity, and the equipment that would be used to measure the quantity. (b) Describe the procedure to be used to determine the mass $M$ of the rod. Provide enough detail so that another student could replicate the experiment, including any steps necessary to reduce experimental uncertainty. As needed, use the symbols defined in part (a) above. (c) Which quantities (raw data or calculated from the data) would be graphed on the vertical and horizontal axes to produce a graph that could be used to determine the mass $M$ of the rod? (d) Describe which information from the graph described in part (c) would be used and how it would be used to determine the mass $M$ of the rod. (e) Another group of students argue that if this experiment were to be repeated on the Moon, the determined value for the mass of the rod would be different. If the procedure and analysis as described in part (b) through part (d) were to be repeated on the Moon, would the result for the mass be greater than, less than, or equal to the mass obtained on Earth?

Public Answer

LEMSDY The First Answerer