Effective Spring Constant - Lab Report Example

We calculate the percentage error to find out how similar our predictions were to our experimental results. It can be assumed that the percentage errors are very less and thus, it proves that the experiment was conducted with lot of precision and care. These errors are less if you consider the fact that an error of 5 cm in measuring the displacement would have changed the error percentage drastically i.e. 35.71% from 10.00% The relatively less percentage error can be accounted to systematic error or aberration in springs.

Also, we must not forget that the experimental value of k’ and k” is obtained from the values of k1 and k2 from the previous lab experiment’s results so if there was an error in the results of the experiement it would have carried over into this lab. Our predicted results would have changed slightly due to the error and our experimental data would be off by even more. Another source of error could have been in measuring the relative displacement of the spring after the masses have been hung.

A change in the angle or the stick not being held vertical could have resulted in a large deviation from predicted values. Taking into account all of these possible sources of error, we can safely assume that our percentage errors were sufficiently small. Conclusion The objective of this lab experiment was to calculate the effective spring constants of two different configurations. We obtained the effective spring constants using the equations from the predictions section.. (N) Initial h (m) Final h (m) Displacement (x) 0.05 0.49 0 10 10 0.07 0.686 0 10 10 0.09 0.882 0 12 12 0.11 1.078 0 15 15 0.13 1.274 0 20 20 The slope of the graph obtained is .

Table-4 k” (End-To-End) Mass (kg) Weight (N) Initial h (m) Final h (m) Displacement (x) 0.05 0.49 0 29 29 0.07 0.686 0 42 42 0.09 0.882 0 54 54 0.11 1.078 0 67 67 0.13 1.274 0 80 80 The slope of the graph obtained is . We calculate the percentage error to find out how similar our predictions were to our experimental results. It can be assumed that the percentage errors are very less and thus, it proves that the experiment was conducted with lot of precision and care. These errors are less if you consider the fact that an error of 5 cm in measuring the displacement would have changed the error percentage drastically i.e. 35.

71% from 10.00% The relatively less percentage error can be accounted to systematic error or aberration in springs. Also, we must not forget that the experimental value of k’ and k” is obtained from the values of k1 and k2 from the previous lab experiment’s results so if there was an error in the results of the experiement it would have carried over into this lab. Our predicted results would have changed slightly due to the error and our experimental data would be off by even more. Another source of error could have been in measuring the relative displacement of the spring after the masses have been hung.

A change in the angle or the stick not being held vertical could have resulted in a large deviation from predicted values. Taking into account all of these possible sources of error, we can safely assume that our percentage errors were sufficiently small. Conclusion The objective of this lab experiment was to calculate the effective spring constants of two