Dean Doneen

Lab #9 Balance Board

In this lab we put a plank on a dowel and attempted to balance it
using three scales we used as the masses. We put one scale on one
end, two on the other, tried to balance it then recorded the distance of
each mass from the center. We had the one scale being 16 from the
center, and the two scales 7.5 from the center. Ideally this should be a
ratio of 8:16 or 1:2, with the distance of the one mass from the center
being twice the distance of the two masses from the center. This is
proven mathematically using the formula for Torque = F*r. If we need
equal torque on either end of the board, and we double the mass for
one, we need to half the moment arm. We were close to the ideal ratio,
with only a 6.25% error, but still not perfect. This could be because we
were treating the scales as point masses, with the point being at their
center. The fact is that scales are not point masses, and their mass is
not distributed evenly. Another possible reason is that the dowel was
not perfectly in the center. It was placed their initially, but likely could
have rolled a little bit.