The discussion revolves around determining the mass of a meter stick using torque principles. The setup involves a fulcrum placed at the 60 cm mark, with two known masses placed at specified distances from the fulcrum, raising questions about net torque and the contributions of the meter stick itself.
Participants are actively engaging with the problem, raising questions about the setup and calculations. Some guidance has been offered regarding the use of the fulcrum for torque calculations and the need to express the torque from gravity in the equations. However, there is no consensus on the next steps to find the mass of the meter stick.
There are indications of confusion regarding the application of torque equations and the role of gravity in the calculations. Participants are also navigating the challenge of converting between units and understanding the implications of their assumptions about the system.
Torque = rfsintheta but in this problem sintheta=1. I found the torque of gravity to be .0833 from that equation if that's cprrect? So I have .0833 = .1 X f. Solve for f and get f = .833 N. I divide this number by 9.8 to getNathanael said:Right, gravity acts everywhere, but it effectively acts on the center of gravity. In other words, if you treat the full force of gravity acting only the center of gravity, then it will be the same as if you treat gravity as being spread across the object. So we can say the force of gravity (9.8 X mass) acts on the center of gravity.I mean the mathematical definition. How is torque defined with numbers? If you know a force, and you know the distance it acts, then what is the torque from that force?
Put this all together and take some time to try to solve the problem.
Good. 85 grams. The actual weight was 97 grams? You're not doing anything wrong. You said it was a lab, right? So you actually measured these distances? That can account for the error.khannon5 said:.085 kg but this can't be right what am I doing wrong?
Ok thank you so much. I really appreciate your timeNathanael said:Good. 85 grams. The actual weight was 97 grams? You're not doing anything wrong. You said it was a lab, right? So you actually measured these distances? That can account for the error.
Look at it like this... If the 50g mass was actually at 42.5 cm and the 100g mass was actually at 30.5 cm, then you would get an answer of 92.5 grams. (Not to mention if the fulcrum is not exactly at 60 cm! That's probably where the error really comes from!)