Elastic Point On The Plastic Bag Strips example essay topic

751 words
Hookes Law is when forces are applied to a solid object and it can result in extension or compression. Hookes Law is able to predict how a spring (or other stretchable object) would behave when force is applied to it. I aim to show how much force (N) strips of supermarket plastic bags will take before it reaches its elastic limit and whether the width of the strips can alter the results. I am going to do a simple experiment that involves cutting a plastic bag into strips which are all different sizes, 25 cm x 5 cm, 25 cm x 10 cm and 25 cm x 15 cm. Then I am going to add 100 g weights to the length of plastic bag until I reach its elastic limit.

After each 100 g has been added I am going to measure the new length of the plastic bag strip. I will then note the difference between the length of the strip at the start of the experiment and the length at the end in order to see what permanent damage has been done. To make it a fair test I will use the same types of plastic bags and make sure that they are always the same length. I will also try to gently add the weight so that the force with which it landed does not alter the results. The most important factors are that I make sure that it is a fair test and that I take accurate measurements. I will need to take measurements in centimetres after every 100 g is added.

The reason I should obtain accurate results is because I know that the strip should stretch at equal amounts until the strips have been stretched beyond their elastic limit. I will have to be careful to make sure that if the strip of plastic bag breaks the falling weight could not be a danger to anyone. I will be taking minor precautions and shall not be adding ludicrous amounts of weight onto the beam. The measurements that I will be taking must be done as fairly as possible o the results shall not be accurate. The equipment that I will use should be checked to make sure that there is nothing wrong with it; I will make sure that I use the best equipment available to me. Diagram Equipment list Clamp and Stand Weights (In different proportions) A measuring apparatus (Ruler) Plastic bag strip Prediction I believe that the different widths will slightly alter the results.

This is because the force remains equal but there are more molecules contained in a larger surface (wider strip) than there are in a smaller one. The 25 cm x 5 cm length of plastic bag will reach its elastic limit earlier than either of the other too. The 25 cm x 15 cm length should be able to withstand the largest amount of weight before reaching its elastic limit. The results should remain consistent and increase in even amounts until the chosen strip reaches its elastic limit. The difference in width did affect the elastic point on the plastic bag strips.

Due to having foreknowledge of Hookes Law it was easy to roughly predict what the results were going to be. Also being aware of the movement in molecules that are found in solids was helpful. This helped me come to the conclusion that due to the amount of pressure on certain parts of the strip a wider strip would be able to withstand more pulling from the weights. Algebraic formulae Force Strip Strip will stretch by X amount Double force = 2 XS oF S S x X 2 F = 2 X Evaluation The experiment managed to produce some decent, accurate results so that I was able to produce a graph and come to a good conclusion. All of my results seemed to be very accurate. They all followed a pattern until they reached the elastic point.

After they had hit the elastic point the results became harder to record because they were so varied. Also some of the measurements could have been slightly inaccurate because I was using a 30 cm ruler. To make sure that all my results were accurate I would have to have more time and be able to repeat them again.