October 10, 2016: Magnetic Potential Lab

Anthony Betancourt
Lab Partner: Josh Fofrich
Lab Performed: Oct. 10, 2016
Professor Wolf

Lab #13: Magnetic Potential Energy

Purpose:

The main objective of this lab is to utilize the lab equipment provided and establish a method for representing the force of magnets with an equation.  Through the use of two magnets, with repelling force, on an incline that is elevated on one end, and measurement between the separation of both magnets can lead to this equation.

Procedure:

1. Set up air track and glider on a level surface. be sure to have a stack on books or wooden block available to place under track to create incline.  
2. Make sure magnet on end of glider faces the magnet at the end of the track and that they repel each other. 
3. Measure the mass of the glider, record data.
4. Turn on the air pump to the track.
5. Place one book or block under the track to create a small inline. the glider will start to fall toward the end with the magnet.  
6. Using a smartphone, measure the angle of elevation on the track.
7. Allow time for the glider to stabilize. Once glider has stopped moving turn off air pump. 
8. The two opposing magnets have a distance between them, measure this distance and record data. 
9. Repeat steps 1 through 8 with varying inclines and record the data for each angle.  Be sure to include a range of angles both large and small.  

Measured Data:

(Air track set up)

(Angle of incline and separation distance between magnets)

(calculations for mgsin𝜃; Force of the magnet)

(power curve fit; x-axis is separation distance, y-axis is mgsin𝜃)

(Calculations for the function of Magnetic Potential with uncertainties, Umag)

(verifying conservation of energy)

Analysis:

Over the course of the experiment, the one issue that was most prevalent was getting the calipers in between the magnets to get an accurate measurement for the separation.  Another smaller issue was getting a variety of inclines to result in better range of separation distances.  One way we figured out to alleviate this problem was using the chairs in lab to position the track end on.  Care must be take to properly secure the track with a foot or weight so it doesn't slide off the chair.  Once enough data had been collected, we calculated the force of the magnets from the separation and mgsin𝜃.  The magnetic force and separation distance can be plotted on x and y-axis respectively to achieve a power fit curve.  The power fit curve gave us an equation with a correlation value of 0.8332 with uncertainties as shown above in picture 5.  The final picture verifies the conservation of energy as the glider moves toward the motion detector and being repelled by the opposing magnets and traveling back to its initial position.  

Conclusion:

This experiment was straightforward in procedure and the data that needed to be collected.  The main issues had were due to issues of achieving various angles, the measurement between magnets, and possibly plotting data into logger pro.  Uncertainties associated with the power fit curve are included above in the analysis.  Other uncertainties might be from the measurements taken to find the separation between the magnets, the data that was strike through in the graphing in order to achieve higher correlation value, and possibly the strength of the magnets used in the lab might differ from other lab groups magnets.  The more trials conducted will result in higher correlation value and also provide better data to choose from for graphing power fit curve.