Hugo Alvarez Valdivia

AP Physics
Elizabeth Brenneman
Due: Wednesday April 19th, 2016

Merry Go Round Lab Report

The main goal of this lab was to analyze the torque. Torque is a measure of how much a force
acting on an object causes that object to rotate. Torque is a factor in several complex machines such as the
electric motor that runs most household appliances. It is especially important to the operation of
automobiles, playing a significant role in the engine and transmission. An automobile engine produces
energy, which the pistons or rotor convert into torque for transmission to the wheels. Though torque is
greatest at high speeds, the amount of torque needed to operate a car does not always vary proportionately
with speed. ( "Torque - Real-life Applications." Real-life Applications. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. )
The specific question we were addressing was how is torque applied in the game Merry Go
Round. To do this, we decided to go to a park and take some measurements.
The major source of error on this lab was probably friction, because at first we didnt take it in
count, and later we realized that it is very important. The angular speed wasnt constant, that means that
there has to be a force slowing the merry go round down: Friction. It is present because of many factors:
The disk was kind of old or maybe it wasnt greased.
Data collected:
(Videos of our work on the Merry Go Round)
https://drive.google.com/a/ames.k12.ia.us/file/d/0ByuNjiShzeAQcjFvTGhxWnUyMXM/view
https://drive.google.com/a/ames.k12.ia.us/file/d/0ByuNjiShzeAQZzdLREFFTHZTQVU/view
Radius of merry-go-round 1.75m 0.1 m
Radius of weight 0.10795m
(Person on Merry Go Round is Meghan)
(Person pushing is ben)
Trial 1
1 rev 10.7 s 0.1 s
1 rev with person 9.15 s 0.1 s

Trial 2

1 rev with person 9.45 s 0.1 s

1 rev 9.86 s 0.1 s

1 rev with person 9.83 s 0.1 s

1 rev 10.13 s 0.1 s

Trial 3

Meghan: 54.43 kg .1 kg - Hugo: 65 kg .1 kg

Calculations:
Torque:
t =
t = 560.44*0.3
t = 168.13Nm 0.1 Nm (with weight in)
t =
t = 560.44*0.2967
t = 166.283Nm 0.1 Nm (with weight out)
Moment of Inertia
I = mr2
I = (366)(1.75)2
I = 560.44kgm2 0.2 kgm2
Angular Acceleration
=/t
= 1.416 / 4.438
= 0.3 rad/s2 0.1 rad/s2(with weight in)
= / t
= 1.365 / 4.602
= 0.2967m/s2 0.1 rad/s2(with weight out)
Angular Velocity
= / t
= 2 / 4.438
= 1.416 rad/s 0.1 rad/s(with weight in)
= / t
= 2 / 4.602
= 1.365rad/s 0.1 rad/s(with weight out)
Angular Momentum

L = Iw
L = 560.44*1.365
L = 765kgm2/s 1 kgm2/s(with weight out)
L = 560.44*1.416
L = 793.583kgm2/s 1 kgm2/s (with weight in)

In order to find the mass of the merry go round, we used this formula
L = L0 (Angular momentum is conserved)
( m Merry- go-round r2 + M Hugor2 + M Weight r2)w1 = ( m Merry-go-round r2 + m Hugor2 + m Weight r2)w2
We got that the mass of the Merry-go-round was -138.9 kg, which its not right because we look for the
mass of a 1.75 m Merry go round on internet and it is approx 366 kg. With this, we concluded that friction
wasnt negligible.

Conclusion:

NOS 10: The places/tasks involved in doing science are varied. But most
science

is

social

and

collaborative

process.

Discuss the working conditions of many kinds of scientists. Where do scientists work? What do they do?
AND give examples of how and why scientists must interact with other to accomplish their work.
Scientists work in almost any place in which a person can be. Sometimes they have to do field trips to
research something, sometimes they work on government facilities, even in Universities. Scientists study
things and try to figure out patterns or rules to explain how they work. Scientists must interact with each
other because in that way they can discuss about their discoveries and researches, and then improve those
as a team or community.

For more real-life applications, please visit: http://www.scienceclarified.com/everyday/Real-LifeChemistry-Vol-3-Physics-Vol-1/Torque-Real-life-applications.html