Waves on a string Lab
.Objective - We were asked to find the linear mass density of a string wave as it was oscillating, we used the equation, μ=(T)/(v)^2 to find the linear mass density, below is the materials and steps we used to find the linear mass density.
Materials used - Oscillator, string, meter stick, pulley, and a mass (200g)
Setup/Experiment - We were give an oscillator which would later be used to oscillate the string, the string itself, and a pulley with negligible friction on the string and a mass (200g). We attached a string to the oscillator and tied down the other end of the string to keep the string taught. After that we pulled the other end of the string over the edge of the table and around the pulley whilst tying the 200g mass onto the end to keep the other end taught. Next we started to tune the oscillator to vibrate the string at its fundamental frequency, which happened to be around 12 Hz. We next set out to find the wavelength of our string (λ). We measured to length of the string and found it to be 1 meter long. Given the equation 2l = λ for the fundamental frequency, we knew that the wavelength of our string was 2 meters. We also measured the tension of the string to be about 19.3 Newtons.
Materials used - Oscillator, string, meter stick, pulley, and a mass (200g)
Setup/Experiment - We were give an oscillator which would later be used to oscillate the string, the string itself, and a pulley with negligible friction on the string and a mass (200g). We attached a string to the oscillator and tied down the other end of the string to keep the string taught. After that we pulled the other end of the string over the edge of the table and around the pulley whilst tying the 200g mass onto the end to keep the other end taught. Next we started to tune the oscillator to vibrate the string at its fundamental frequency, which happened to be around 12 Hz. We next set out to find the wavelength of our string (λ). We measured to length of the string and found it to be 1 meter long. Given the equation 2l = λ for the fundamental frequency, we knew that the wavelength of our string was 2 meters. We also measured the tension of the string to be about 19.3 Newtons.
After finding all of the necessary variables, we came to the conclusion that using this equation, μ=(T)/(v)^2, we could figure out the linear mass density to be (19.3)/(24)^2 =.335 kg/m. For our measure of uncertainty, we understood that there are a few things that could've impacted our answer. For example, we should've run more trials in order to improve the accuracy of are answer and double checking all of our variables to make sure that they are valid and accurate. So in the end, the true linear mass density of the string might be a little more or less than our final calculation