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curator:Tim Erickson
Hanging Triangle

This is original data taken by a group of Actual Physics Teachers studying the setup in the illustration. We hung a cord between two force probes, and then hung a weight from a (variable) place on the cord. The probes were free to rotate, and were level with one another.

F1 and F2 are forces in Newtons measured by the force probes. X1, X2, and h are distances in meters, as shown. We moved the weight between observations.

Questions
What is the mass of the weight?
We expect the components of the vectors to balance. Do they?

F1 F2 X1 X2 h
0.95
0.28
0.245
0.49
0.235
0.77
0.64
0.325
0.40
0.27
0.55
0.82
0.40
0.32
0.26
0.34
0.98
0.465
0.26
0.245
0.02
1.09
0.515
0.195
0.195
1.05
0.02
0.20
0.525
0.2

<text form of the data>

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Last updated 18 October 2002
supported by NSF award DMI-0216656