Amity International School

EXPERIMENT NO: ...............

Name: ...........................
Date: ...........................

AIM: To find the frequency of the AC mains using a horse shoe magnet and a sonometer.

APPARATUS: A sonometer with a wire of nonmagnetic material, knife edges, a horse shoe magnet, a step
down transformer (220-6V), slotted weights (steps of 50gwt)

1 T
FORMULA USED:  =
2l m
ν: natural frequency of vibration of the sonometer wire at resonance = frequency of AC mains.
l: Resonating length of the wire T: tension in the string & m: the mass per unit length of the wire.

DIAGRAM:

PROCEDURE:

1. Arrange the circuit as shown in the diagram. Connect sonometer wire to the step down transformer
(220-6V) and suspend a hanger with slotted weights from free end of the wire passing over the
pulley.
2. Mount a horse shoe magnet vertically in the middle so that wire is free to move between the poles
3. Apply suitable tension to the wire (100 gwt) and switch on the AC supply.
4. As the current begins to flow through the wire it experiences Lorentz force. The direction of force
reverses with the polarity of AC and the wire vibrates.
5. Place the two bridges very close to each other, on either side of the horse shoe magnet.
6. Increase the separation between them till the sonometer wire starts vibrating with very large
amplitude.
7. Increase the tension in the wire in steps of 50gwt and find the corresponding resonating length.
8. Take 4 such observations while increasing the load and repeat these observations while unloading
the wire.
9. Record the mean resonating length.
10. Using the given formula calculate frequency in each case.
OBSERVATIONS:

Least Count of Scale: .......................

Mass/length of the wire (m): 0.0139 g/cm

Slotted Bridge position Resonating

Tension T
Weights length 1 T
S. No (dynes) =
W(gwt) X1 (cm) X2 (cm) l (cm) 2l m

1. 100 9.8x104

2. 150 14.7x104

3. 200 19.6x104

4. 250 24.5x104

CALCULATIONS: The frequency of vibration should be calculated using logarithms.

1 T
=
2l m
1
( logT − log m ) = x
log = − log( 2l ) +
2
then,  = anti log x
Substitute the value for T, l & m for each observation and calculate the frequency.

ERROR: Standard value of frequency of AC = 50Hz

 std −  exp
Percentage error =  100
 std

RESULT: The experimental value of frequency of AC mains is …………..Hz.

Percentage error is………………

Precautions & Sources of Error:

1. The sonometer wire should be of non-magnetic material with uniform area of cross section.
2. While finding the resonant length, start with a small distance between the wedges and note the
position of the bridges very carefully.
3. After completing the experiment, weights should be removed otherwise wire may develop elastic
fatigue.