PURPOSE: To demonstrate the inertial property of mass.
DESCRIPTION: Load the arms with equal masses at the same or different distances from the center, and observe what happens when the cart is accelerated by hand along the track. Alternatively, load the arms with masses in the ratio of 10:1 which look the same and ask students to account for the behavior of the apparatus. By lifting one end of the track, show that when a force (gravity) is allowed to act uniformly on all parts of the apparatus the crossarm will not rotate regardless of how it is loaded.
SUGGESTIONS: Level the track.
REFERENCES: (PIRA 1F10.10)
EQUIPMENT: Cart, track, equal mass pair, unequal mass pair, as photographed.
SETUP TIME: None.
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