Trying to find the mass of a meter stick without using a scale has thus far proven to be quite a challenge. I know that the point is to find the lever arm of the other side of the meter stick, but I have not figured out how yet. Lauren and I took some measurements and did some calculations. One thing we did clarify is that the center of gravity is supposed to be at 50cm. So we werent sure how to approach the problem, however we knew that f=mxg... and if we could calculate g and therefore f.. then we can solve for the mass. Also an important thing that we needed to know was that the center of gravity was at 50cm and that both lever arms therefore were 25cm roughly.
Here are the steps that we came up with:
Use torque equation
Find the lever arm of the weight side
find torque
Torques must be equal
set equation equal to eachother
solve for force
force is weight
w=mg
solve for mass
you done :)
tip* force x lever arm = force x lever arm
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