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smokedvanilla
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Homework Statement
Investigating the effect of mass on the period of oscillation.
This experiment is about SHM of a floating cylinder, and the theory is explained in this website:
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/64154/shm-of-floating-objects
Also, I'm attaching a diagram of my experimental setup. (x is the displacement of the cylinder under water)
Homework Equations
Buoyant force acting on the cylinder, F=Vρg=Axρg
As Newton's second law states that F=ma, a=-Axρg/m
Since a is directly proportional to -x, this fulfils the condition for SHM.
a=ω^2x, and ω=2∏/T
therefore a=(4∏^2)x/T^2
-Axρg/m=(4∏^2)x/T^2
From the derivation above, it can be concluded that 1/m is directly proportional to 1/T^2, and therefore m is proportional to the square of period.
The Attempt at a Solution
I tried to perform the above experiment. The cylinder does bob up and down in the water, but it does not perform SHM. First of all, the amplitude keeps decreasing, but I have no idea what is the source of energy loss. Besides, the correlation between m and T^2 is also not directly proportional.
Does anyone have an idea what's the error in this experiment?
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