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2012 Phys. Educ. 47 701
(http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-
P APE RS
www.iop.org/journals/physed
Abstract
The demonstration of finding the centre of gravity of a metre-stick (or
another long thin body) is fairly well known and is performed often due to its
simplicity. Explaining the demonstration is not so simple, however, if one
wants to consider some of the finer details. In this paper we give an indepth consideration of the demonstration and the friction forces involved.
The process is presented both analytically and graphically. We have also
considered the role of the demonstrator as an important factor.
switching
of
the
fingers). A case for the
need of more in-depth
realistic consideration
can be found in [ 8]. We
will try to give an
explanation
as
exhaustively
as
possible.
00319120/12/06070
1C08$33.00
E D U C A T I O N 47 (6) 701
P HYSIC
ng. nce
At after it
first and
the only
stick then
is does
imm the stick
obile stand
relat immobil
ive e
to relative
the to it, at
sup the
port same
A
moment
(the starting
one to slide
clos relative
er toto
A.
the Continui
CG) ng
in
and this
mov way, the
es events
alon are
g
repeate
with d
but
it
the two
towa support
rds s switch
the roles.
sup After
port several
B
alternati
(the ve
one switche
furth s
of
er movem
from ent
the relative
CG). to
the
The two
sup support
port s they
B
meet at
reac the
hes centre
the of
the
sym stick
metr and the
ical experim
mar ent
is
k, over.
pass
We
es could
som perform
e
the
dista experim
ent in a
slightly
differen
t way.
We can
hold
one of
the
support
s
immobil
e
relative
to the
table
and
move
only the
other
one.
The
stick
perform
s
the
same
movem
ents
relative
to the
support
s. The
end
result of
the
experim
ent is
the
same.
We
must
note
that
during
the
trials
we
never
observ
e
simulta
neous
movem
ent of
both
support
s
relative
to the
stic
k
(as
long
as
we
mov
e
the
sup
port
s
On
slo
wly) friction
forces
.
This In order
has to
not explain
bee the
n results
expl of the
aine experim
d ent we
befoneed to
re. use
some
basic
knowled
ge
about
friction
forces
that we
will give
here
briefly.
Let
us place
a block
of mass
m on a
smooth
horizont
al
immova
ble
surface
(figure
3). The
force of
gravity
G and
the
normal
reaction
force
R act
upon
the
block.
The
normal
pressur
E
e force
E
N acts
upon
the
support
. (Note:
since
the two
E
E
forces R
and N
are an
action
reaction
pair as
per
Newton
s third
law they
are
frequent
ly
referred
to as a
single
normal
contact
force.
This is
okay
among
experts
or
student
s who
underst
and the
finer
details,
but
in
front of
not-sowell
prepare
d
student
s
it
might
be
useful
to use
this
occasio
n
to
once
again
reiterate
the
more
subtle
nuance
s
of
New ly
tons increasi
third ng the
law magnitu
de
the
the of
fact pulling
that force F
ther from
zero. At
e
are first,
two even
disti though
nct the
forc dynamo
es meter
indicate
invol
s
a
ved,
force to
actin
be
g on
present,
two
the
diffe block
rent remains
bodi immobil
es, e.
It
freq means
uent that
ly upon it
with in
a
diffe horizont
rent al
resu directio
lts.) n
another
We force
can is
write acting
dow in
an
n Gopposit
D Re
D N,directio
G Dn to F
R Dand the
N. two
Let forces
us are
pull equal in
the magnitu
bloc de
at
k by
any
mea
given
ns
momen
of a
t. This
hori
force is
zont
called
al
the
dyn
static
amo
friction
met
er, force FS.
slow It
is
E
caused
by
the
interacti
on
between
the
touching
surfaces
of
the
block
and the
support
and
depends
on
the
smoothn
ess
of
the
surfaces
and the
interacti
ons
between
their
molecul
es.
By
increasi
ng the
magnitu
de
of
the
force F,
the
magnitu
de of FS
increas
es too.
While
the
block is
motionl
ess, we
have FS
D
F.
Clearly,
the
static
friction
force
has
a
maximal
value
FSM.
When
the
pulling
force F
reaches
this
maximu
m
value,
i.e.
when F
D FSM,
the
block
breaks
off
70 P H Y
SICS
2 E DU
C A T I 2012
ON
friction
S):
FSM
D SR
D
Smg:
the kinetic friction force FK.
Obviously the spatial leap and
The
kinetic
the leap of force are related. It friction force is
is important to pay attention to analogously given
this leap-like transition from aas
state of rest to a state of sliding
during which we have a
FK D
difference
between
the
KR D
magnitudes of the two friction
0 FS
FSM:
In
practice
it
is
sometimes assumed within a
certain degree of accuracy
that at small velocities the
kinetic friction force is equal
to the maximum static
friction force FSM D FK. In
our experiment, however,
the difference between FK
and FSM is crucial.
are
Balance
conditions for
the stick
maintain a constant
Here we must discuss a very equality of
important pecu-liarity of the
E
system,
caused
by
thethe two external
participation of the experimenter.forces, i.e. jFAj D
Through visual control and thejF j. Because of
B
sensory perceptions of the fingersthat,
in
the
of both hands and with thebeginning, when
applying
small
decisive participation of the brain, enough forces the
the experimenter stresses his two supports and
muscles in such a way so as to the stick will not
FK and FK.
move.
2012
PH
YSICS
E DUCA
TION
Let us now
determine
the
maximum static
friction forces and
the kinetic friction
forces
acting
upon the stick.
We will
need
them
for
the
subsequent
arguments.
703
Let
us now
describ
e
the
balance
conditio
n
relative
to axes
passing
horizont
ally
through
the
points A
and B
perpen
Idicularl
y to the
n
orde stick.
r for(The
the points A
stick and B
to are
be situated
in exactly
bala above
nce the
the support
alge s A and
brai B.)
Consid
c
sum ering
of the
the notation
in
torq s
figure
ues
from 5 and
the that
forc forces
es acting
actin towards
g onthe axis
(e.g.
it
relat the
ive friction
to forces)
an produc
arbit e zero
rary torque
axis we
has obtain:
to
be
P
R
B
.
a
C
b
/
G
a
D
0
;
B
!
R
A
.
a
C
b
/
G
b
D
0
:
Therefore:
RA D G
If
we
assume
that the
friction
coefficie
nt S is
A the
same
for both
support
b
a
b ;
RB D G a
a
C
b:
s, was
for closer
the to
the
mag
nitu CG than
des support
of B, i.e. a
the <
b.
maxi
mu Thus
m
stati
c
fricti
on
forc
es
we
obta
in:
we
have:
T
h
e
r
e
s
p
e
c
t
i
v
e
k
i
n
e
t
i
c
f
r
i
c
t
i
o
n
f
o
r
c
e
s
a
r
e
:
L
et
us
assu
me
that
initia
lly
sup
port
A
FSM >
B
FSM :
The
results
up until
now
have
been
essentia
lly the
same
as
those
we have
publishe
d before
[
7].
Conside
ring
these
results,
let
us
continu
e
the
explana
tion of
the
experim
ent.
Explai
ning
the
results
of the
experi
me y
nt increas
e from
So
zero
from
towards
the
their
initi
maximu
al
m
con
values.
ditio
Sin
n
A
whe ce FSM
n > FSMB,
the the
syst static
em friction
is atforce at
the
rest support
we B will be
start first to
to reach its
act maximu
upo m value
B
n FSM
the and
two transfor
sup ms with
port a small
leap
s
down
with into
a
grad kinetic
uall friction
force
y
incr FKB. At
easi this
ng moment,
forc with the
es participa
from tion of
the
zero experim
. Asenter the
a static
resu friction
lt, force on
the the left
stati (which
has not
c
yet
fricti reached
on its
forc maximu
es m value)
acti decreas
ng es and
become
upo
s equal
n to
the
the kinetic
stick friction
grad force on
uall the right.
From
that
moment
the two
supports
begin to
move
towards
each
other.
Then the
left one
stays
immobil
e
relative
to
the
stick and
carries it
along
and the
right
support
slides
relative
to
the
stick
towards
the CG.
As can
be seen
from
formula (
4) with
the
decreas
e of b,
B
FK
graduall
y
increase
s. But,
as can
be seen
from
formula (
A
1), FSM
graduall
y
decreas
es. The
two
forces
change
approxi
mately
linearly
with the
decreas
e of b,
which is
not
significa
nt in this
case.
4
70 P H Y
S I C SO N
E DU
CATI
2012
As we stated in the
beginning, the simultane-ous
sliding of the stick relative to
both supports is never observed
experimentally. Why does the
stick stop sliding relative to B at
the moment when it starts
sliding relative to A? This is
actually the hardest element of
this experiment to explain. We
offer two possible explanations.
While we were moving the
support B from the distance
b to the distance c relative to
the CG it was in principal
possible to maintain the
friction forces as equal by
A
force FSM
automatically
leaps down to
A
FK . It is clear
that the
distances a and
c are now
significantly
different, i.e. a >
c. But from ( 3)
and ( 4) it can
be seen that in
A
difference FK
A
FK D
KG
aC c KG
c
D
aC c
KG
a c
aC c is directed
left towards
the support A.
This net force
acts on the
stick during
the leap
automatically
(without
participation
of the
experimenter).
A short-time
push arises
on the stick
that moves it
to the left with
acceleration.
This small
displacement
of the stick is
practically
indiscernible
to the eyes
and
fingers.
Since
the
support B is
moving left at
this
moment
(slowly,
as
determined) and
during
the
automatic jerk
the stick also
moves to the left
(even if only just
slightly), there
comes
a
moment when
their velocities
become equal.
This means that
for a moment
the
stick
becomes
stationary
relative to B.
This short-time
stop is enough
to transform
the kinetic
friction force
B
FK into a
stationary
friction force
B
FS . The
movement of
the stick
relative to B
stops. At this
moment the
support A is
farther from
the CG.
Because of
A
that FK <
B
FSM .
The
described
transformati
ons of the
forces
happen in a
short time,
at which the
movement
of the stick
changes its
nature
symmetricall
y relative to
A and B,
i.e. sliding
relative to A and
stationary relative to B.
By means of the hands,
the two forces are again
maintained equal in
magnitude, i.e. when a >
A
b, FK D FS .
The change of the motion
relative to the two supports
can also be caused by the
unconscious actions of the
experimenter himself. Since
the supports have to be
moved slowly, the
experimenter might
occasionally stop them for a
moment, without noticing it.
Thus he could restart the
experiment and change the
nature of the movement
without the automatic jerk, if
the conditions are
appropriate (support B has
to be closer to the CG than
A). While this may be the
2012
PH
predominant
effect in some
real-life
experiments
the automatic
mechanism
described
above applies
even to ideal
cases such as
those
considered in [
5, 6].
After
the
change,
an
analogous
movement of the
stick is carried on,
symmetrical to the
one just described
and the movement
of
the
stick
alternately changes
relative to A and B
YSICS
E DUCA
TION
D 0 we obtain FK
D 0. The friction
force at the support
B drops to zero and
the
stick
stays
immobile on top of
support
A
irrespective of the
horizontal position
of support B. Since
the two supports in
fact
have
finite
sizes, when they
touch each other
the movement of
the stick stops and
the
CG
is
positioned between
them.
705
stick.
This
could
happe
n
if
they
are
initiall
y
place
d
exactl
y
symm
etrical
ly
relativ
e to
the
CG
and
their
frictio
n
coeffi
cients
(both
static
and
Tkineti
here c) are
is exactl
one y the
theo same.
retic This,
al howe
pos ver, is
sibili practi
ty cally
for impos
the sible.
sim
F
ulta or
neo impro
us ved
slidi clarity
ng we
of will
both repre
sup sent
port the
s
chang
und e of
er the
the frictio
n
force
s
actin
g on
the
stick
grap
hicall
y
(figur
e 6).
In
order
to do
that
we
will
work
out
som
e
exact
quan
titativ
e
resul
ts
conc
ernin
g the
moti
on of
the
stick
and
we
will
use
them
to
draw
the
grap
h.
F
o
r
b
e
t
t
e
r
c
l
a
r
i
t
y
w
h
e
n
w
r
i
t
i
n
g
d
o
w
n
t
h
e
f
o
r
m
u
l
a
e
w
e
a
l
s
t
a
r
t
i
n
g
p
o
s
i
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
t
h
e
s
u
p
p
o
r
t
s
a
s
a
i
n
n
i
n
g
t
h
e
t
w
o
m
a
x
i
m
u
m
s
t
a
t
i
c
f
r
i
c
t
i
o
n
f
o
r
c
e
s
a
r
e
r
e
s
p
e
c
t
i
v
e
l
y
SM
d
e
n
o
t
e
t
h
e
i
n
i
t
i
a
n
d
b
D
b
0
.
I
n
t
h
e
b
e
g
SG
a0
b0
,F
w
i
l
l
A
F
<
b
a
t
t
h
e
s
t
a
r
t
t
h
e
s
ti
c
k
w
il
l
s
t
a
r
t
m
o
v
i
n
g
r
e
l
SM
a0
SG
a0
F
SM
FSM
C b0 . The
b0
a0
. If
a
t
i
v
e
t
o
B
.
S
i
n
c
e
w
h
i
l
e
a
0
D
c
o
n
s
t
a
n
d
b
0
d
e
c
r
e
a
s
e
s
d
o
w
s
n
w
t
oi
bt
1c
i
nh
ti
h
en
fg
i
r
s
tp
o
i
n
t
,
a
c
c
o
r
d
i
n
g
t
o
(
1
)
t
h
e
m
a
x
i
m
u
m
s
t
a
t
i
c
f
r
i
c
t
i
o
n
f
o
r
c
e
a
l
s
o
SM
b1
D
SG
a0Cb1
magnitude FSM D SG
magnitude is
A
F
SM
.b0/
The
switc
hing
from
motio
n to
rest
or
SM .b1/
C b0 to its final
b .a Cb /
0 0 1 .
b1.a0Cb0/
vice rest)
vers beco
a in mes
a
equal
sup to the
port kinetic
hap friction
pen force
s
at the
whe other.
n
The
the refo
maxi re,
whe
mu
n
m swit
stati chin
g
c
fricti sup
on port
B
forc fro
e at m
one moti
sup on
port to
(the rest
we
one hav
that e
had
FSM
bee A
D
n at
FK
B
SGb
aC b
D
KG
a
aC b
, and
thus
Sb D
Ka,
a
D S.
This
means
that
until
the
momen
t
b
K
of the
switc
ha
has
been
const
ant
and b
was
decrea
sing
down
to a
value
of b D
K
a.
S
Analo
gousl
y,
when
switc
hing
the
supp
ort A
b
aCb
, hence
Sa
Kb,
aD
70 P
H
6 YI CS
b.
S U CATI O N
E
D
2012
D F K , SG
b
a D
S
K
a b
C
,
Assuming that a0
< b0 and support
B is the first to
start moving, the
points
of
switching
get
closer according
to the relations
2n
an D . K / a0, n D 0; 1;
2; : : : ; bn D
S
1.
2n 1
/
a0, n
D 1; 2; 3; : : :,
bD
a. Substituting this in ( 1) we
obtain
F
SM
S
S
b
aCb D
S K
S K
SC K
G.
of FSM D
SC K
y D S K G:
SC
K
At the instants of the switches all
the leaps 1F of the maximum
A
static friction force FSM down to
A
the kinetic friction force FK are
FSM
equal. Since
D K and FSM D
A
A
we obtain: 1F D FSM
FK D F
A
FK
K. S
K/
SM
SC K
where
the
an
is
distance of A
to the CG at
its nth switch;
bn is the
distance of B
to the CG at
its nth switch.
This result
follows from:
b1 D .
K
S
a2 D .
K
S
1
2a0 , b2 D
K
/ a0, a1 D . S /
4
5
K
/ a0, b3 D . S / a0 , a3 D
a0; : : :. A
similar, less
rigorous
(numerical
only)
derivation of
this can be
found in [ 5].
The
detailed
tracking
of
the
force changes in
the switching points
when the supports
are immobile is
quite complicated
and has to be done
very carefully. We
also need to take
into account that
the
hands
constantly keep the
forces at the two
supports equal in
magnitude.
On
from figure 6.
2012
HYSICS
E DUC
ATI O N
leads
to
a
corresponding
A
decrease of FS
down to 0, 55 N
(point K2). Support
B slides from b0 to
b1, at Bwhich the
force FK rises to 0,
68 N (point L3).
Correspondingly to
this,
the
static
friction force at A
increases from 0, 55
N to 0, 68 N (point
K3).
707
Th
drop e
s
dow horizon
n total
A
FK moves
D 0;
57 Nafter L3
(poi
nt and K5
K4). we use
At
that to
poin symbol
t, byically
way
of repres
the ent the
han
ds, already
the forc describ
e at
B ed
decr automa
eas
es tic
to leaps
B
FS that the
D 0;stick
57 N
(poi does
nt during
L4). switche
Fro s.
m
that
The
insta
nt se
on, complex
slidi
ng repeated
start
s atchanges
A of
the
duri
ng forces
whic
h itup and
mov
es down at
from the
a0 to
switchin
a1.
At g points
that, happen
A
FK
rises along a
to 0,vertical
68 N
(poi line.
nt
K5). They are
Sim due to
ulta
neo the
usly
change
at
one
support
is
mirrored
by
a
change
at
the
other
support.
For
a
clearer
represen
tation of
the
process
es, they
are
shown
expande
d
on
figure 7.
On
figure 6
these
details
are not
given in
order to
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3
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3
Dragia T
Ivanov
graduated
in
engineerin
g physics
from Sofia
University
and then
gained a
PhD in
physics
didactics
from St
Petersbur
g, Russia
in 1977.
He has
been a
reader in
physics
didactics
at Plovdiv
University
since
1980,
becoming
a
professor
in 2006.
His areas
of interest
include
physics
didactics
and
multimedi
a teaching
aids. He
has
written a
number of
books on
practical
physics
experimen
ts.
Stefan N
Nikolov
gained his
BSc
degree in
engineerin
g physics
from
Plovdiv
University
in 2005
708
HYSICS
C ATI O N
2012
P
E DU
and his
MSc
degree in
medical
and
nuclear
physics in
2007. He
started his
physics
teaching
experienc
e as early
as 2001
(aged 18)
and has
been
teaching
physics in
one
capacity
or another
ever since
(still only
as a parttime
activity).
He is
currently
employed
at Plovdiv
University
as a
physicist
(lab
technician
) and is
working
towards
obtaining
his PhD in
physics
didactics.
His areas
of interest
are
teaching
and
communic
ating
physics
(and
science in
general)
and he
has given
a number
of one-off
presentati
ons on
different
physics
topics on
numerous
occasions
.