Joseph Bennett

Partner: Dan Nwatu

Date Done:6/8/14, Date Due:6/9/14

Lab #6 The Conservation of Angular Momentum

The Conservation of Angular Momentum

Purpose- In this lab we will attempt to gain first hand knowledge of the law of conservation of
angular momentum. We will observe torque, moment of inertia and angular acceleration of a
rotating system in order to observe this law.
Materials

1 rotating table with photo gate and pulley , with cylinder for string
1 disk with handle
1 mass with string attached which winds around cylinder attached to the rotating platform
1 photo gate w/ interface box
1 vernier caliper: to measure the diameter of the cylinder
1 computer

ObservationsRadius: 0.0225m ~ 2.25x10-2

r: 0.5mm = 5.0x10-4m
Mass (m): .200 kg
m: No error needed
Part 1-Measurement of the Moment of Inertia of the Rotating Platform and Attached
Cylinder:
Table 1:
angular momentum ()
time (t) [sec] [rads/s]
0.875
1.83
1.75
1.77
2.65
1.72
3.57
1.68
4.52
1.65
5.48
1.61
6.47
1.57
7.48
1.54
8.52
1.48
9.58
1.46

Table 2:
time (t) [sec]
1.16
1.61
2.02
2.41
2.77
3.11
3.45
3.761
4.06
4.36

angular momentum ()
[rads/s]
3.37
3.66
3.93
4.20
4.44
4.66
4.87
5.09
5.29
5.47

Chart 1- Angular Acceleration Resulting from Friction

Chart 2-Angular Acceleration w/ a 200 gram Mass
Chart 3 - Angular Momentum of the system before and after the weighted disk was placed
upon the system
Part 2- Conservation of Momentum:
-maintain 4 significant figures in this section
Table 3:
[ rads/s ]
' [ rads/s ]
13.37
8.367
13.29
8.305
13.16
8.244

Graph for table 1 next page

Equation for slope: y = -0.0415x + 1.842
= o+t 1.83= -0.0415 + 1.842
The angular acceleration due to friction (fr) is: 0.226 rad/sec2
Graph for Table 2
Equation for slope: y = 0.659x + 2.60
= o+t 3.37 = 0.659 + 2.60
The angular acceleration with a 200g mass () is: 1.16 rad/sec2

Part 2- Conservation of Momentum:

-maintain 4 significant figures in this section
Table 3:
[ rads/s ]
13.37
13.29
13.16

' [ rads/s ]
8.367
8.305
8.244

Summary and Calculations:

Part 1-Measurement of the Moment of Inertia of the Rotating Platform and Attached
Cylinder:
Calculation of I:
-

)
|

- 1.35 kg*m2 = I
Calculation of I:
-Assume that the relative uncertainty in r is the same as the relative uncertainty in I, this is
because g is much greater than r, in addition the relative uncertainty of the mass is also very
small.
-Therefore
r*I = I
-(5.0x10-4)( 1.35) = 6.75x10-5 kg*m2 = I

Part 2- Conservation of Momentum:

Moment of inertia of the dropped disk and its error:
-maintain 4 significant figures in this section
Radius of Disk (R): 0.128m
Mass of Disk (M): 5.213kg
R: 1mm ~ 0.001m
M: 1g ~ 0.001kg
Moment of Inertia of the dropped disk and its error:
-

-Idisk = (5.2126)(0.128)2
-Idisk = 4.27x10-2kg*m2
Error=

-Idisk = ( (

)
-4

) x 0.0427
2

- Idisk = 3.337x10 kg*m

Calculation of final moment of inertia and its error:
-Ifinal = I+ Idisk
-Ifinal = 1.35 + 0.0427 = 1.393 kg*m2
Ifinal:
= 3.405x10-4

Calculation of Avg & :

-:
= 13.27 rad/s
-:
= 8.305 rad/s
Calculation of & :
- :
= 0.1050 rad/s
- :
= 0.0615 rad/s
Calculating the angular momentum before and after the drop:
Before:
-L=I
-L= (1.35)(13.27)
-L=17.91J

After:
-L=I
-L= (1.393)(8.305)
-L=11.57J
Error of L & L:
L:

-L = (

x 17.91

-L= 0.1417J

L:

-L = (
-L = 0.08572 ~ 8.572x10-2
Is angular momentum conserved?: No, according to the formulas received in lab and the
results we received from our experiment the angular momentum before the weighted plate was
17.91J and afterwards the angular momentum was 11.57J.
Conclusion- While I believe that a calculation or systems error occurred in our experiment
giving us a different result as to the angular momentum before the disk was dropped and after the
disk was dropped, I believed that the after observing this lab we still gained a first-hand account
of the conservation of angular momentum. After the mass was dropped it was clear that the
angular velocity of the system had slowed down, this is apparent in graph 3. This is a result of a
change in the moment of a inertia in the system.