To understand the relationship between moments of force, the amount of force and the length of the lever arm. Includes a meter stick, three knife-edge clamps, an aluminum support, two mass hangers, slotted masses from 1 gm to 500 gm and a storage rack.
Features
Lever and pivot: A beam (often a meter stick) is balanced on a pivot, which acts as the fulcrum.
Weights and hangers: Masses are hung from the beam using holders or riders at different positions along the lever arm.
Measuring lever arm: A scale on the beam allows you to measure the distance from the pivot to where the weight is attached.
Achieving equilibrium: Weights are added or moved until the beam is balanced, meaning the torques on both sides are equal.
Verification:
The experiment verifies the principle of moments, which states that for a body to be in equilibrium, the sum of the clockwise moments must equal the sum of the counter-clockwise moments. The formula is: Moment = Force(F) X Distance(d).