UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIA FRANCE INSTITUTE

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SECTION

Laboratory Experiment Sheet

ENGINEERING MECHANICS 2

WORK DONE BY A VARIABLE FORCE (VERTICAL EFFORT) EXPERIMENT

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the experiments are to demonstration the work done by a variable force (vertical
effort). This experiment also investigates as area under the graph of force by carries a different
load and the distance when it moves.

THEORY

In mechanics a force F does work on a particle only when the particle undergoes a displacement
in the direction of the force. Consider a particle is move from one point s2 to another point s1, the
distance of movement is classified as a displacement of the particle is represented by the
differential dr.

Figure 1: work of a load, L

When a force causes displacement of a body, work is done. By work its mean mechanical work,
as defined in physics. From this relationship a scalar quantity can be defined as a work dU, which
is done by force F corresponding to the displacement dr.

dU = F ds cos
By definition of dot product:
dU = F . dr

When a particle undergoes a finite displacement along its path, the work is obtained by integration.
This work denoted by U12, is

r2 s2
U12 = r1 F .dr= s1 F cos ds

Where the variable of integration s measure the distance traveled by the particle along the path,
the work U12 represented by the area under the graph obtained by plotting F cos versus s. If the
particle is moving in a straight line and a force Ft is acted upon a constant magnitude and of
constant direction, the component of the force Ft in the direction of displacement is Ft cos . The
work done by Ft can be expressed as:
2
U12 = Ft cos 1
Or
U12 = Ft cos (s2 s1)

Work done can be represented graphically if we plot force versus displacement. The area under
the curve represents the work done.

Figure 2: work moving in a straight line (vertical effort)

By doing this experiment we will using a different load and rearrange a distance to be stay in
equilibrium position. Form different load and distance, work done will obtain. This is an example,
the work done by a varying force in moving an object between two points is equal to the area under
the curve between these two points.
 Figure 3: work done by varying effort

This experiment is designed to reinforce the general principle that the work done, particularly by
a variable force, can be determined simply by measuring the area under the graph of force and
distance moved. The apparatus is a simple lifting mechanism with obvious non linear
characteristics. A suspension cord carrying a loaded trolley at mid span is tensioned by passing the
cord over a pulley at one end and down to a weight hanger. As the vertical effort is increased, the
tensioned cord will move to a new equilibrium position lifting the loaded trolley.

Power
Power is defined as the amount of work performed per unit of time. Hence, the power performed
as amount of work dU within the time interval dt is

P=

Provided the work dU is expressed by dU = F . dr, then it is also possible to write

.
P= = = F.

Or
P = F.v
Analysis and discussion

1. Plot force versus mass moment of inertia for both load (theoritical and experimental) and analyze
the data.
2. Name some application by using this mechanism and explain it.
3. Discuss 2 possible source of errors (other than parallax error) and how its can effect the result

Endorsed by :
Technical Unit Leader HOS/ PC
Sign & Stamp Sign & Stamp
Date 19th September 2016 Date 19th September 2016