Torque

Overview

Source: Nicholas Timmons, Asantha Cooray, PhD, Department of Physics & Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA

The goal of this experiment is to understand the components of torque and to balance multiple torques in a system to achieve equilibrium. Much like how a force causes linear acceleration, torque is a force that causes a rotational acceleration. It is defined as the product of a force and the distance of the force from the axis of rotation. If the sum of the torques on a system is equal to zero, the system will not have any angular acceleration.

Procedure

1. Using two weights to balance the beam.

Start by connecting one 200-g weight to the first hook on the right. Then, connect a 200-g weight to the first hole on the left. If released from rest, the beam should not rotate.
Remove the 200-g weight from the left side. Determine using Equation 1 where a 100-g weight would need to be placed to balance the torque from the right side. Place the weight and confirm the prediction.

2. Using three weights to ba

Results

Step 1.2: Connect a 100-g weight to the second hole on the left.

Step 2.2: Connect the 200-g weight to the second hole on the left.

Step 2.3: Connect the 100-g weight to the fourth hole on the left.

Step 3.2: There are six different ways:

1) 200 g - 4^th hole

Application and Summary

As mentioned earlier, a simple application of torque is using a wrench to tighten a bolt. The important thing to remember is that torque has two components. If it is difficult to tighten a bolt with the wrench in hand, a worker has two options. He can either apply more force or just get a longer wrench. Usually, the latter is the easier choice.

When a car commercial quotes some value of torque, it is a good idea to pay attention. As can be seen by the equation Equation 4