Unit 3 - Oscillations (Page and links under construction)
Now that you have an ultrasound, accelerometer, wifi box system you can test it on a mass spring system.
Now that you have an ultrasound, accelerometer, wifi box system you can test it on a mass spring system.
- Lab 3A : Vertical mass spring
- Lab 3B : Vertical mass spring continued and fitting
- Lab 3C : Damped oscillations
- Lab 3D : Forced oscillations
Physics Background
To review physics laws on mechanics, please check out OpenStax texbook. Here are important Chapters:
Lab 3A: Vertical Mass-Spring
In this lab, we explore a vertical mass-spring system. We treat an Arduino box as a mass, measure the position and acceleration along the vertical axis.
Pre-Lab 3A
Lab 3A Instruction
Important points:
- Make sure that one of Arduino Box in your group is fully functional.
- WiFi communication is reliable
- Ultrasound distance sensor is reading well, calibrated well
- Accelerometer is reading well, calibrated well
- Make sure that you understand the basic physics of harmonic oscillation: read 5.1 Simple Harmonic Motion
- Next, make sure that you obtain a reliable spring constant (k), by hanging well-known mass(s) of 50, 100, 200 g (and various combinations if you like).
- Measure the actual mass of the Arduino Box by a scale. Then predict the angular frequency w = sqrt (k/m).
- Finally, you are ready to take data. The initial condition is critical. Push the Arduino Box at a slightly higher point (than the resting point) slowly, say by the displacement, A. Then release it without any initial velocity. This should give you a very predictable motion of y(t) = A*cos(wt). (If the initial velocity is not zero, the motion would be different. How?)
- After that, you are welcome to combine two springs in series and in parallel. But always predict the angular frequency w, before your measurement. When you measure, compare your prediction and observation. If they do not agree, address the origin of the error. This is going to be the essence of your report this week.
Lab 3B : Vertical Mass-Spring cont'd
Pre-Lab 3B
In this lab, we study harmonic oscillation, based on a horizontal mass-spring system an an air track.
- Please review two fundamental concepts of physics: