lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Experiment 1

Basic Physics (University of Engineering and Technology Lahore)

Scan to open on Studocu

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)
 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

BASIC PHYSICS LAB MANUALS

FOR

Undergraduate Classes

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, LAHORE,

PAKISTAN

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Experiment # 1

To determine the frequency of A.C. mains by Meld’s Experiment.

Objective:
Calculate the frequency of A.C. mains by Melde’s experiment through transverse arrangement.

Equipment Details:
i. Electric vibrator (solenoid, electric bulb, soft iron rod, permanent magnet)
ii. Thread and pulley
iii. Chemical balance
iv. Meter scale
v. Weights

Experimental Setup:

Figure 1: Experimental setup for generating standing wave pattern.

An electric vibrator consists of a solenoid whose coil is connected to A.C. mains. The circuit includes a
high resistance in the form of an electric bulb as shown in Fig1. A soft iron rod AB is placed along the
axis of the solenoid, clamped near the end A with two screws X and Y while the end B is free to move. The
2

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

rod is placed between the pole pieces of a permanent magnet NS. One end of the thread is attached to the
end B and the other passes over a frictionless pulley and carries a weight. When an alternating current is
passed in the coil of the solenoid, it produces an alternating magnetic field along the axis. The rod AB gets
magnetized with its polarity changing with the same frequency as that of the alternating current. The rod
AB vibrates n times per second due to interaction of the magnetized rod with the permanent magnet. . The
tension in the string can be varied by placing different weights in the pan, stationary waves are produced
due to the superposition of the direct waves sent by the strip and reflected waves from the pulley.

Procedure:
i. Take a uniform thread of one meter long and attach its one end to the point B of the rod and the
other to a light pan by passing it over a frictionless pulley.
ii. Place an electric vibrator in the transverse position. iii. Find the mass of one meter long thread
through chemical balance and then calculate mass per unit length. It is denoted by ‘m’.
iv. Connect the A.C. mains to the solenoid of an electric vibrator.
v. Fix the pulley and switch on the A.C current so that it passes through an electric vibrator. Thus
the changing magnetic field produces vibrations in the rod.
vi. Add small weights in the pan such that the string vibrates in one loop with maximum amplitude
under the forced vibrations of the rod.
vii. Note the tension T(=weight of the pan + weights added) and measure the length l of the loop. By
reducing the tension, the string is made to vibrate in two, three, four loops and so on.
viii. Note the number of loops p formed in the length L of the thread. This gives the value of l as
l = L/p.
ix. Calculate the frequency of A.C. mains by using formula.

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Observations and Calculations:

Mass of the empty scale pan m1 =……………………gms
Length of the thread =……………………………..cm
Mass of the thread =………………………………gms
Mass per unit length of thread= m=……………….gms/cm

No. of No. of Distance Length of Mass Mass of Tension in Frequency of

obs. loops N between each loop added to pan the thread A.C. mains
two l =L/N the pan m2 m1+Mass T=Mx981
extreme added m2
nodes L (gms) M=m1+m2
(cm) (cm) (gms) (dynes) (Hz)
1

Mean frequency f =……………… (Hertz)

Standard result: Frequency of A.C. mains = ...... cycles/sec.

Percentage error = ...... %

Result: The frequency of A.C. mains, using.

Transverse arrangement = ...... cycles/sec.

Applications:

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

i. Alternating current (AC) electricity is the type of electricity commonly used in homes and
businesses throughout the world. AC electricity alternates its direction in a back-and-forth
motion. The direction alternates between 50 and 60 times per second, depending on the electrical
system of the country.
ii. The AC electricity can be readily transformed to higher or lower voltage levels. High voltages are
more effecient for sending electricity at great distances, high voltages from the power station can
be easily reduced to a safer voltage for use in the house. Changing voltages is done by the use of a
transformer. This device uses properties of AC electromagnets to change the voltages.
iii. Tuning of instruments like guitar. iv. Standing waves in air coloumn.

Sources of error and precautions:

i. Pulley should be frictionless.
ii. The loops formed in the thread should appear stationary.
iii. Do not put too much load in the pan. iv. Pass the
current for a short time.
v. Take accurate measurements of length and mass.
vi. Do not apply DC power to this instrument. DC current will NOT cause the rod to vibrate
and a larger than normal current may flow. This could cause excess heat and eventual
damage to the instrument.

Theory:
A wave is the propagation of a disturbance through a medium. The physical properties of that medium
(e.g., density and elasticity) will dictate how the wave travels within it. A wave may be described by its
basic properties of amplitude, wavelength, frequency and period T. Figure 2 displays all of these
properties. The amplitude, A, is the height of a crest or the depth of a trough of that wave. The wavelength
λ is the distance between successive crests or successive troughs. The time required for a wave to travel
one wavelength is called the period T. The frequency f is 1/T, and is defined as the number cycles (or
crests) that pass a given point per unit time.

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Figure2: Properties of waves

Since the wave travels one wavelength in one period, the wave velocity is defined as.
The λ/T wave velocity can then be written as

when a vibrating body produces waves along a tightly stretched string, the waves are reflected at the end
of the string which cause two oppositely traveling waves to exist on the string at the same time. These two
waves interfere with each other, creating both constructive and destructive interference in the vibrating
string. If the two waves have identical amplitudes, wavelengths and velocities, a standing wave, or
stationary wave, is created. The constructive and destructive interference patterns caused by the
superposition of the two waves create points of minimum displacement called nodes, or nodal points and
points of maximum displacement called antinodes. If we define the distance between two nodes (or
between two antinodes) to be L, then the wavelength of the standing wave is λ=2L. Figure 3 illustrates the
case where the length of string vibrates with 5 nodes and 4 antinodes.

Figure 3. A standing wave is created when an incident and reflected wave have identical amplitudes,
wavelengths and velocities.

It is possible to obtain many discrete vibrational modes in a stretched string. That is, for a string to vibrate
with a specific wavelength, the tension applied to the string must have a certain value. It is possible for
the string to vibrate with another specific wavelength, but the tension must be adjusted until that particular
mode is reached. If the tension is such that it is between vibrational modes, the string will not exhibit the
standing wave phenomenon and we won't see a standing wave. When the frequency of the vibrating body
is the same as that of the particular vibrational mode of the string, resonance is established.

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Speed of transverse wave in stretched string:

A string means a wire or a fibre which has a uniform diameter and is perfectly flexible i.e.which has no
rigidity. In practice, a thin wire fulfills these requirements approximately. The speed of transverse wave in
a flexible stretched string depends upon the tension in the string and the mass per unit length of the string.
Mathematically, the speed v is given by

Where T is the tension in the string and m is the mass per unit length of the string. When a wire clamped
to rigid supports at its ends is plucked in the middle, transverse progressive waves travel towards each
end of the wire. These waves are reflected at the ends of the wire. By the superposition of the incident and
the reflected waves, transverse stationary waves are set up in the wire. Since the ends of the wire are
clamped there is a node N at each end and a anti-node A in the middle.

We know that the distance between two consecutive nodes is λ/2 , where λ is wavelength. Hence if l be
the length of the wire between the clamped ends, then l = λ/2 or λ=2 l. If f be the frequency of vibration

of the wire, then f = v/λ= v/2 l Substituting the value of v, we have .

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

VIVA VOCE

Q. 1. What do you mean by A.C. mains?

Ans. A current which changes its direction of flow i.e. continuously varying from zero to a maximum
value and then again to zero and also reversing its direction at fixed interval of time. If a graph of the
current against time has the form of a sine wave, the current is said to be sinusoidal Q. 2. What is the
frequency of your A.C. mains? What does it represent?
Ans. The number of times the current changes its direction in each second is called the frequency of A.C.
mains. It’s value is 50 cycles per second.
Q. 3. What do you understand by resonance?
Ans. In case of forced or maintained vibrations, when the frequencies of driver and driven are same then
amplitude of vibration of driven becomes large. This phenomenon is called resonance. Q. 4. Does direct
current also have any frequency?
Ans. No, it does not change its direction. Q.
5. How does the iron rod vibrate?
Ans. When alternating current is passed through the solenoid, the iron rod is magnetized such that one end
is north pole while other end is south pole. When the direction of current is changed, the polarity of rod is
also changed. Due to the interaction of this rod with magnetic field of permanent magnet, the rod is
alternately pulled to right or left and thus begins to vibrate with frequency of A.C. mains. Q. 6. What
type of vibrations does the rod execute?
Ans. The vibrations are forced vibrations. The rod execute transverse stationary vibrations of the same
frequency as that of A.C.
Q. 7. Can you use a brass rod instead of soft iron rod?
Ans. No, because it is non-magnetic.
Q. 8. How is it that by determining the frequency of the rod, you come to know the frequency of
A.C. mains?
Ans. Here the rod vibrates with the frequency of A.C. mains. Q.
9. What is the construction of an electric vibrator?
Ans. It consists of a solenoid in which alternating current is passed. To avoid the heating
effect in the coil of solenoid, an electric bulb is connected in series. A rod passes through the
solenoid whose one end is fixed while the other is placed in pole pieces of permanent horse
shoe magnet.
Q. 10. What are resonant vibrations?

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|23616062

Ans. If the natural frequency of a body coincides with the frequency of the driving force, the
former vibrates with a large amplitude. Now the vibrations are called as resonant vibrations. Q.
11. When does resonance occur?
Ans. When the natural frequency of the rod becomes equal to the frequency of AC mains, resonance
occurs.
Q. 12. Define Transverse waves?
Ans. The vibrations in which the particles of the medium vibrate in a direction perpendicular to the
direction of wave motion are called as transverse vibrations or waves. Q. 13. Define Stationary waves?
Ans. A stationary wave is formed when two identical waves travelling in the same medium but coming
from opposite direction superimpose.
Q. 14. What types of waves are set up on the thread?
Ans. Transverse standing waves are set up on the thread. Q.
15. What are node and anti-node points?
Ans. When a standing wave is set up in a medium, those points which are at rest and do not vibrate are
called nodes. Those points which vibrate with maximum amplitude are called antinodes. Q.16. What is
the distance between two consecutive nodes or antinodes?
Ans. It is λ/2.
Q.17. What does Melde’s experiment demonstrate?
Ans. It demonstrates the formation of stationary waves.

Downloaded by Sahil Sharma (blowmymindy@gmail.com)