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Spring Scale Calibrated with Known Weights
A spring scale, or newton meter, is a spring fixed at one end with a hook at the other. By Hooke's law the stretch grows in step with the force, so the marks on its scale are evenly spaced. This one is built in a clear tube with a paper scale and calibrated with known weights: on Earth a 100 g mass pulls with about 0.98 N (100 g × 9.81 m/s²). The sizes here are ours: a tube about 20 cm long and a light extension spring that stretches clearly under 1 kg. Do not load it past the heaviest calibration weight: an overstretched spring stays longer and the scale is lost.
Beginner
2 hours
Instructions
1
1
Make the hooks
Make the hooks
Bend two pieces of steel wire with round-nose pliers: one with a loop at each end to hang the spring from the top plug, one long rod with a loop at the top and a hook at the bottom.
Materials for this step:
Steel Wire0.4 mTools needed:
Round-nose Pliers2
2
Plug the tube
Plug the tube
Push the top wire through one cork disc and glue the disc into the top of the tube. Make a hole in the second disc for the rod to slide through and glue it into the bottom.
Materials for this step:
Acrylic Tube (Clear)1 piece
Small Disc of Cork2 pieces
Super Glue (CA)1 pieceTools needed:
Craft Knife3
3
Hang the spring
Hang the spring
Hook the spring to the top loop and the rod's top loop to the spring, so the rod hangs out through the bottom plug. The lower end of the spring is the pointer.
Materials for this step:
Extension Spring1 piece4
4
Fit the scale
Fit the scale
Glue a strip of graph paper along the outside of the tube and mark zero at the spring's lower end with nothing hanging.
Materials for this step:
Graph Paper1 pieceTools needed:
Permanent Marker5
5
Calibrate
Calibrate
Hang 100 g, 200 g and so on up to 1 kg, marking the pointer each time; each 100 g is about 0.98 N. The marks should be evenly spaced; check that the pointer returns to zero when unloaded.
Tools needed:
Calibration Weight SetMaterials
6- 0.4 mPlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 2 piecesPlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
Tools Required
4- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
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