1

1.0 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the elastic property (the spring
constant) of a spiral spring, to determine the natural frequency (f), to study the vibration
motion of a mass suspended from the spring and to understand the phenomena associated
to resonance frequency. The experiment was done by using the vibration apparatus set that
had been provided which includes instance carriage, base, adjuster, helical spring, guide
roller, guide column, additional mass, mechanical recorder and ruler.
To determine the spring constant (k), the datum was set up at 20mm from the top of
graph using adjuster with no additional mass for the first time and the mechanical
recorders button was pressed for a second in order to record the data. Continued this step
by using additional mass of 2kg, 4kg, 6kg, 8kg and 10kg and the data was taken from the
graph paper.
To determine the natural frequency (f), the carriage weight without additional mass
was pressed till the end and released it. At the same time, the button was pressed until at
least 10 oscillation recorded on the graph paper. The step was repeated by using additional
mass of 2kg, 4kg, 6kg, 8kg and 10kg. There were differences between experimental result
and the theoretical result. This kind of results may occur due to the errors that we had to
encounter during conducting the experiments.











2

2.0 BACKGROUND

Hookes Law, stating that the force exerted on a spring is proportional to the amount
being stretched, is presented as F=kx. To support this theory, force, a push or pull of an
object which causes the object to move, has been exerted on a spring. When force is
exerted, the spring would be out of its equilibrium position, original position without any
force exerted. The amount that the spring has moved due to the force is the displacement.
Each time, place a different amount of force on the spring and then measure the amount
the spring has moved. Is these are all recorded, subject them into the original equation
F=kx. F is the force and x is the displacement.
Any physical structure can be modelled as a number of springs, masses, and dampers.
Dampers absorb energy, but springs and masses do not. As we saw in the previous section, a
spring and a mass interact with one another to form a system that resonates at their
characteristic natural frequency. If energy is applied to a spring-mass system, it will vibrate
at its natural frequency, and the level of the vibration depends on the strength of the energy
source as well as the absorption or damping inherent in the system. The natural
frequency of an undamped spring-mass system is given by the following equation:

where Fn = The natural frequency
k = the spring constant, or stiffness
m = the mass
From this, it is seen that if the stiffness increases, the natural frequency also increases, and
if the mass increases, the natural frequency decreases. If the system has damping, which all
physical systems do, its natural frequency is a little lower, and depends on the amount
of damping.
The multitude of spring-mass-damper systems that make up a mechanical system are called
"degrees of freedom and the vibration energy put into a machine will distribute itself
among the degrees of freedom in amounts depending on their natural frequencies
and damping, and on the frequency of the energy source. For this reason, the vibration will
3

not be uniformly distributed in the machine. For instance, in a machine driven by an electric
motor, a major source of vibration energy is residual imbalance in the motor rotor. This will
result in a measurable vibration at the motor bearings. But if the machine has a degree of
freedom with a natural frequency close to the RPM of the rotor, its vibration level can be
very high, even though it may be a long distance from the motor. It is important to be aware
of this fact when evaluating the vibration of a machine -- the location of the
maximum vibration level may not be close to the source of
the vibration energy. Vibration energy frequently travels great distances along pipes, and
can wreak havoc when it encounters a remote structure with a natural frequency near that
of its source.



3.0 OBJECTIVE

1. To obtain the experimental spring constant (k).
2. To obtain the experimental natural frequency (f).
3. To compare the value of natural frequency using theoretical method and
experimental method.
4. To compare the experimental value of spring constant with the theoretical value.







4

4.0 THEORY

4.1 Spring Constant ()
This spring constant shows the relationship between spring load and the deflection
of the spring. The relationship between those two elements can be expressed by
equation:



Which:
= spring load
= spring deflection
= spring constant

Usually, k is calculated using the equation:


(

)
(

)


Where:

= initial extension

= final extension

= initial mass

= final mass

But we can also determine the spring constant by plotting a load-extension curve.


4.2 Natural Frequency (Oscillation)
From the equilibrium of force,

And the spring load is obtained from deflection x and spring constant k,

5


We get this equation from the 2
nd
order differential equation which is

Then, we solve the equation and gives harmonic oscillations with natural angular
frequency or natural frequency.

()

)

Where

and the Periodic time is

6

5.0 APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

Spring Constant ()

i. Check the vibration apparatus set to make sure that the apparatus is well function.
ii. Set the guide columns with the measured paper.
iii. Place the mechanical recorder at the paper with the reading of 20 mm/sec.
iv. Press the button to start and press it again after 2 or 3 seconds.
v. Then, put on the weight starting with 2 kg.
vi. Repeat procedure number 4.
vii. Next, repeat procedure number 5 with additional weight of 2 kg until the overall
weight becomes 10 kg.
viii. Collect data and start to calculate the spring constant.

Natural Frequency (Oscillations)

i. Check the apparatus to make sure it is well function.
ii. Set the guide columns with the measured paper.
iii. Place the mechanical recorder at the centre of the measured paper.
iv. Tighten up the adjuster.
v. Pull the carriage downward and release it as the button is pressed.
vi. Press again after a few second.
vii. Set the recorder back to the centre of measured paper.
viii. Add load from 2 kg till 10 kg and repeat number 4 to 7.

7
















1 Adjuster
2 Helical Spring
3 Carriage
4 Mechanical Recorder
5 Base
6 Guide Columns
7 Guide Roller
8 Additional Mass
1
2
6
7
8
3
4
5
8

6.0 DATA AND RESULT

Determination of Spring Constant , k (N/mm)
Mass, m (kg) Load, F (N) Deflection (mm) Extension,x (mm)
0 0 0 0
2 19.62 11 11
4 39.24 24 24
6 58.86 36 36
8 78.48 48 48
10 98.1 60 60

Natural Frequency, Wn (rad/s)
Additional Mass,
m (kg)
Total Mass, m
(kg)
Length in 3 Period,
L (mm)
Period, T
3
(s)
Period in 1
Oscillation, T
3
/3 (s)
0 1.250 8.5 0.425 0.142
2 3.250 13.5 0.675 0.225
4 5.250 11.5 0.575 0.192
6 7.250 17.5 0.875 0.292
8 9.250 19.5 0.975 0.325
10 11.250 31 1.550 0.517


Experimental Calculation
For Spring Constant, k

()

()

()

()

()

()

For Natural frequency, Wn

For frequency, f

10

To Find Natural frequency

()


11

Theoretical Calculation
For Spring Constant, k
Given:
Spring Constant, k = 1.751 N/mm
For Natural frequency, Wn

()

12

Results
For Spring Constant, k


|

| |

Graph


For Natural Frequency, Wn


|

| |

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 11 24 36 48 60
L
o
a
d
,

F

(
N
)

Extension, x (mm)
Load against extension
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7.0 DISCUSSION

From the experiment of free vibration the experiment to determine spring constant,
we observe that a force is always directly proportional to the extension of spring. From the
graph paper, we get the data to calculate the gradient of the graph that show the spring
constant k, for the experiment is 1 N/mm, while the theoretical spring constant is 1.61
N/mm. from both, there have percentage error is 37.89%. This because there are some
errors from an environment in the lab, the stiffness of spring was decreased, and an elastic
of spring also deceased. The result was not exactly the same as theory.
For the experiment to determine the natural frequency there are some error from
the experiment. It may be from a free oscillation and was not disturbed by the external
forces that effect for experiment to determine the natural frequency. The disturbed by the
external forces energy and the total energy was conserved. In actual there was a few
external forces that effect for the experiment to determine the natural frequency. The
disturbed may come from the stiffness of the spring or do not have the constant extension
after experiment before this.
The error also increases when the motor speed mechanical recorders do not collect
with right the oscillation when the speed is not constant. Another reason is because the
addition mass move when press the carriage weight because they have no lock at the top. It
is give an effect to the data. The carriage weight takes a few second to release. On the graph
paper, there is some error when the carriage weight was delay when we press the button to
release. The oscillation that obtain is not accurate on the graph paper.

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8.0 CONCLUSION

The conclusion that can be made from this experiment was the experiment is
partially success because the experimental value that we obtained does not really accurate
with the theoretical value but we achieved the objective given. The error from this
experiment can be reduced if the student can follow the procedure correctly and all
apparatus are in good condition. For the experiment to determine the spring constant, the
error is 5.25% and for the experiment to determine the natural frequency is 32.39%. The
experiment to determine the natural frequency has a larger error than the experiment to
determine the spring constant because of mechanical recorder have a delay after pressing
the button to release.

9.0 REFERENCES

a. Laboratory Manual by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
b. Vector Mechanic for Engineering by Ferdinand P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston Jr. 8
th

Edition.
c. Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics by R.C. Hibbeler 12
th
Edition.
d. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration.