1 September 30, 2022

Dynamometer Experiment Discussion

Boris Gaydarov 21031171, Jiya Makwana 21033737,
Ethan Ralph 20916052, Jason Xiao 20943449,
Thomas Yang 21011126

Structure and Design

Figure 1 (Dynamometer Measuring Torque and Revolutions per Minute)

The dynamometer is shown on the left side of Figure 1, and the apparatus for
measuring the spring constant is shown on the right side of Figure 1. The dynamometer was
built with a tall slim frame, as shown in Figure 1 (i). As a result, the motor could be attached to
the top using an elastic band, as shown in Figure 1(ii). The frame was made to be slim so that
the wheel and rope could freely hang over the edge of the structure without being interfered
with. The frame had to be tall to allow the elastic band to stretch without the cup hitting the
table. As shown in figure 1 (iii), the base has one beam extruding from the front and one from
the back. This was done to make the base wider thus allowing more force to be applied before
the center of gravity shifts from underneath the base, preventing the structure from tipping
over as easily. Furthermore, the beam shifts the center of mass away from directly above the
center of the frame.
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The breadboard was attached to the side of the structure, as shown in figure 1(iv), rather than
placing it at the structure's base because the wires coming off the motor are too short of
reaching the base. The structure on the right of Figure 1 is a device created to determine the
spring constant used in the following calculations. It was made using very similar criteria, tall
enough so that the cup does not touch the table when the elastic stretches and extruding
beams from the base to keep the structure stable

The Spring Constant

Figure 2 represents a curve comparing the displacement of the elastic band and the
corresponding force applied to it. Using the apparatus on the right side of Figure 1,
displacement of the elastic band was measured with a ruler for varying amounts of force due to
gravity. The gravitational force was calculated by multiplying the known mass of the Canadian
quarters and container (miniature cup) by the gravitational acceleration constant (9.81 m/s2).
As seen in Figure 2, the required force was not linearly related to the displacement of the
elastic, as typically observed in an ideal spring [1]. Instead, the relationship between force and
displacement for the elastic band followed a quadratic relationship with an R-value of 0.9956,
thus confirming a strong fit between the data points and the quadratic function:

𝑓(𝑥) = 5589.1𝑥 2 + 7.0357𝑥 + 0.0549

Rubber bands display elasticity, thus the following equation derived from Hooke’s Law can be
used,
Ϝ = 𝜅 ∆𝑥 [2] (1)

where the spring restoring force acts as the dependent variable and displacement/extension of
the spring acts as the independent variable. Consequently, the slope for any point on the graph
would correspond to the value of the spring constant (𝜅). Based on Hooke’s Law (1), solving for
the unique spring constant for each displacement can be achieved by rearranging for the
following equation.

Ϝ
𝜅= ∆𝑥 [2] (2)

This method was used to calculate the spring constants used in the calculations for Figure 3. It
can be observed from Figure 2 that the slope and likewise the spring constant is increasing with
displacement. An ideal spring should have an unchanging spring constant and a resulting linear
relationship between force and displacement. However, elastic bands do not behave like an
ideal spring. Elastic bands are made up of long spaghetti-like strands of polymer chains that are
tangled up amongst themselves [1]. Untangling these chains takes minimal force at first but
becomes increasingly difficult as they fully uncoil [1]. To cause further displacement, these
chains must experience an even greater force than before to stretch [1]. Replacing the elastic
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band with an ideal spring would result in a nonchanging spring constant. This would allow for
the omission of calculating the spring constant for each displacement and reduce error.

0.8

0.7 y = 5589.1x2 + 7.0357x + 0.0549

R² = 0.9956
0.6

0.5
Force (N)

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0.00E+00 2.00E-03 4.00E-03 6.00E-03 8.00E-03 1.00E-02 1.20E-02
Displacement (m)

Figure 2 (Force vs. Displacement Curve)

Torque vs. Speed

As seen in Equation 1, power is a product of force and speed; thus, the torque acting on the
dynamometer is inversely proportional to the rotational speed. As represented by Figure 3, the
rotational speed and torque of the motor reach their maximum when the other is zero.
However, the motor's maximum power is found where the x and y-coordinates on the graph
intersect to create the largest possible area—the point at which they form a square [3]. All in
all, the torque and rotational speed change with the mass of quarters (applied force), and the
power changes with the torque. If the mass is fixed, so does the torque, rotational speed, and
power.

Figure 3—Additional graph [3]

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Evidence: The power of an electrical device is based on the formula:

𝑃 = 𝐹𝑣 [3] (1) Commented [ER1]: Should we reference equations?
Since the motor is spinning, the force in this scenario becomes torque 𝜏 :
𝜏 = 𝑟 ⋅ 𝐹 ⋅ sin(𝜃) [4] (2)
The angular velocity could also be calculated from the linear speed:
𝑣
𝜔= [4] (3)
𝑟
Therefore, the formula (1) could be rewritten as:
𝑃 = 𝜔 ⋅ 𝜏 [4] (4)
Such that 𝑃 denotes the power, 𝜔 denotes the load speed, 𝑣 denotes the linear speed,
𝜏 denotes the torque, 𝑟 denotes the lever arm or the radius of the wheel, 𝐹 denotes the friction
force exerted on the wheel by the rope, and 𝜃 denotes the angle between 𝐹 and 𝑟 (Which is 90
degrees in the system shown in figure 1).

Figure 3 is the graphical representation of the Torque vs. Rotational speed (RPM)

225

220
Revolutions per Minute (RPM)

215

210

205

200
y = -1314.6x + 221.69
195
R² = 0.9934

190

185

180
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Torque (N)
Figure 3 (RPM vs. Torque Curve)

Torque is an influence that tends to change the rotational motion of an object [5].
The relationship between the torque and rotational speed is linear as shown by the line of best
fit as shown below:
𝑦 = −1314.6𝑥 + 221.69

The negative slope value depicts the relationship between the rotational speed and the load
applied. In the system, the torque can be measured by observing how the friction between the
rope and the wheel slows the motor down; therefore, the relationship between the torque and
5 September 30, 2022

rotational speed is inverse. The line of best fit has a Pearson correlation coefficient depicted as
R² of 0.9934; this means that the random error within the experiment is low. The low random
error within the experiment shows that the methods used are reliable to produce consistent
results; this is especially important as the same test will be repeated with different shipments
of motors. In addition, it is also crucial to ensure all subsequent tests are held to the same
standard.

Although the dynamometer gives shallow random errors, some improvements could still be
made to the method, given additional resources. Our method of applying load was by adding
increments of weight in quarters. Although this gave us a reasonable estimate of the load
applied, we could only collect discrete data in increments of the weight of quarters. In addition,
we also got a negative value for torque in the other data group of our raw graph. This might be
because the elastic we used at first was stiff and a bit too thick, causing the change in
displacement 𝑥 to be lower than what it was supposed to be. This leads to the subtraction
being a negative number (𝜏 = 𝑘 ⋅ 𝑥 − 𝑚 ⋅ 𝑔 < 0 ). Therefore, another piece of advice here is to
use a more flexible elastic, which could also reduce the measurement errors of the
displacement as well.
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Reference List
[1] P. Howie, “Why doesn't rubber follow Hooke's law?,” LinkedIn, 07-Feb-2021. [Online].
Available: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-doesnt-rubber-follow-hookes-law-philip-
howie/. [Accessed: 29-Sep-2022].

[2] “Hooke's law,” Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online]. Available:

https://www.britannica.com/science/Hookes-law. [Accessed: 29-Sep-2022].

[3] R. Hawkes, J. Iqbal, F. Mansour, M. Milner-Bolotin, and P. Williams, Physics for scientists
and engineers: An interactive approach. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson, 2019.

[4] M. P. Page, “Understanding D.C. Motor characteristics,” D.C. Motor Torque/Speed Curve
Tutorial: Understanding Motor Characteristics. [Online]. Available:
http://lancet.mit.edu/motors/motors3.html. [Accessed: 29-Sep-2022]

[5] R Nave, “Torque,” Torque and Equilibrium. [Online]. Available: http://hyperphysics.phy-

astr.gsu.edu/hbase/torq.html#torq. [Accessed: 29-Sep-2022]