Designing a Force Scale Test w/ Rubber Bands

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around designing a force scale using rubber bands, focusing on the debate between two students, Joe and Larry, regarding the linearity of rubber bands and the methodology for defining a force scale with the provided apparatus, which includes rubber bands, a spring scale, and a meter stick.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Joe proposes using a single rubber band and stretching it incrementally to define force units, while Larry suggests using multiple rubber bands in parallel to account for potential non-linearity. Participants are exploring the implications of Hooke's law and questioning the role of mass in the force exerted by the rubber bands.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants examining different perspectives on the linearity of rubber bands and the appropriate experimental design. Some guidance has been offered regarding the relevance of Hooke's law, but no consensus has been reached on the best approach to the problem.

Contextual Notes

There is a suggestion that the thread may belong in a different section, indicating potential constraints related to homework guidelines. Additionally, the discussion includes questions about the relationship between force and mass, highlighting assumptions about the nature of the rubber bands' behavior.

UrbanXrisis
Messages
1,192
Reaction score
1
Two physics students are having a debate about the best way to define a force scale using rubber bands. Each one is trying to convince you to do it their way. They have the following apparatus to use in tests:

A bunch of identical small rubber bands
10N spring scale
meter stick

Joe argues that: “It’s so much easier to use one rubber band to define a force scale than many. All I have to do is to stretch the rubber band by 1 cm to get one unit of force, then by 2 cn to get two units of force, and then by 3 cm to get three units of force and so on.”

Larry counters: “We do not know whether or not rubber band are linear. Maybe the force the rubber band exerts at 3 cm is not really three times tan the force it exerts at 1 cm. I think it is absolutely necessary to use many identical looking rubber bands in parallel with each other to define a force.”

How could I design a test using the same apparatus Joe and Larry have to prove who is right?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Sounds like homework to me O_O...wrong section.

A hint is to look up Hookes law.
 
in the equation F=kx...why doesn't mass come into play?
 
UrbanXrisis said:
in the equation F=kx...why doesn't mass come into play?

Why should it? The force is due completely to the rubber band. The rubber band doesn't care if it is pulling a 1 gram mass or a 10000 kg mass- it exerts the same force.

Of course, when you are calculating the acceleration due to that force, THEN mass comes into play.
 

Similar threads

Repeat History: Design a test to prove who is right spring
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Calculating the elastic potential energy from a force-extension investigation
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
5K
Do Rubber Band Propelled Planes Fly Further?
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
6K
Will the Bug Ever Reach the End of the Stretching Rubber Band?
  • · Replies 53 ·
2
Replies
53
Views
6K
What are the effects of energy and drag on rubber band powered boats?
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
7K
[Problem] Elastic potential energy
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
Solving SHM of Cube Connected By Rubber Bands
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
Centrifugal force and elastic deformation
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K
Graduate Conical Pendulum with varying string length
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
High School Force required to stretch training resistance bands
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
4K