SEMESTER II EXPERIMENT NO.

AIM:- DETERMINATION OF THE RIGIDITY MODULUS OF A CYLINDRICAL

BODY BY STATIC TORSION METHOD

APPARATUS:-
Various form of rigidity apparatus are employed, one of
which is described here.
The apparatus shown in the Fig.1 consists of a rigid frame-
work having a heavy iron base to which levelling screws
are attached. The upper end A of the wire AB, whose
rigidity is required, is attached to a suitable split chucks
fixed to the top of the frame. The lower end B of the wire
is attached to a fly-wheel F from which a heavy load W is
kept suspended to keep the wire stretched. One end of each
of the two cords is attached to a pin at the lower end of the
fly-wheel F and then they are wound in the same direction.
On reaching at the top of the fly-wheel, the cords leave the
opposite extremity of a diameter and after passing over the
pulleys P1 and P2, their free ends are attached to two scale
pans S1 and S2 respectively. Equal loads can be placed on
these pans to exert a twisting couple at the lower end of
wire. The twist in the wire can be noted by a pointer P
moving over a circular scale S graduated in degrees.

Figure 1
THEORY:-

Let the lower end of a wire of length l and radius r be twisted by an angle
of θ radian by the application of an external couple of moment mgd where
mg is the weight of the mass m placed on each pan and d is the diameter of
4
ηπ r θ
the fly-wheel. Due to this twist in the wire, an internal couple of magnitude
2l
will be set up which will balance the external couple. Hence for
equilibrium
4
ηπ r θ
=mgd
2l
0
0 πϕ
If the twist in the wire be ϕ, then =θ radian.
180
2 4 0
ηπ r ϕ
Hence, =mgd
360l

Rigidity = η =
360lgd m
2 4
π r ϕ
0( ) ..........(1)

If r, l, d are put in cm., m in gram and g in cm/s2 then η will be in Dynes/cm2

PROCEDURE:-

(i) The diameter of the wire is measured by a screw gauge at various

places (at least in 6 places) and at each place readings are taken in two
directions at right angles to each other. The mean diameter when halved gives
the radius r of the wire.
(ii) The diameter of the fly-wheel is measured by a slide callipers in
various directions at the place where the two strings leave the wheel. The
mean of these readings gives d.
(iii) The length of the wire from the upper fixed point to the position of the
pointer is measured by a scale. The mean of three such measurements gives l.
(iv) Various equal loads are placed on the two pans and at each time the
reading of the pointer on the circular scale is noted. Readings for both
increasing and decreasing loads are noted and from the mean of these two
readings the twist in the wire for each load is determined.
(v) A graph is then drawn with loads as abscissa and the corresponding
angles of twist in degrees as ordinate. The graph is a straight line passing
through the origin (0, 0). From the graph, the twist ϕ 0 for a particular load
of mass m is determined. Putting these values of m, ϕ , r, d and l in the relation
(1), rigidity η is calculated.

EXPERIMENTAL DATA:-

A) Measurement of radius (r) of the experimental wire:

Least count of screw gauge = .......mm

[Link]. Linear scale Circular scale Diameter Mean (d) Radius Radius (r)
reading (s) in reading (c) in (d)in mm in mm (r) in in cm
mm mm d = s+c mm
c = cr x lc r=d/2
1

B) Measurement of the diameter (d) of the flywheel:

Vernier constant of slide calliper = .......cm

[Link]. Linear scale reading Vernier scale reading (v) Diameter (d) in cm Mean (d) in
(s) in cm in cm d = s+v cm
v = vr x vc

C) Measurement of length (l) of the experimental wire:

( i )+ ( ii ) +(iii )
l= = ......cm =
3

D) Determination of the twist (ϕ 0) of the wire for various loads (m):

[Link] Load on each Reading of pointer in degree Twist

Obvs. pan in Kg. (m) Load increasing Load decreasing Mean degrees
End I End II End I End II (ϕ 0)
1 0 (a) (a)-(a)=0
2 (b) (b)-(a)=

6 (f) (f)-(a)=

CALCULATIONS:
360lgd m
η=
2 4
π r ϕ ( )
0 = ...........Dynes/cm
2

If r, d and l are in cm., m in Kg and g = 984 cm/s2 then η will be in Dynes/cm2

PRECAUTIONS:
1) After adding a certain load to the scale pans readings of the pointer are to be
taken after waiting a little, so that the system may be steady.
2) As radius r occurs in 4th power, it should be measured very carefully otherwise a
small error in the measurement of r will increase the error in the determination of
η by 4 times. For this purpose, the diameter should be measured at least in 6
different places and at each place in two directions at right angles to each other.
3) The diameter of the flywheel should be measured at the place, where the two
strings leave the wheel and at this place the diameter should be measured at least
in 4 different directions.
4) Care should be taken to maintain the strings, leaving the flywheel horizontal
otherwise the arm of the couple applied will not be equal to the diameter of the
 flywheel.

MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE ERROR:

η= 2 4
π r ( )
360lgd m
ϕ
0

( δηη )
max
=
δl δd δr δϕ
+ +4 +
l d r ϕ

Now δl = 0.2 cm (two divisions of metre scale)

δd = 0.01 cm (v.c. of slide calliper)
δr = 0.001 cm (l.c. of screw guage)
δϕ = 0.50 ( 1 division of circular scale)

Substituting a set of observed values of ϕ , r, d and l we can calculate ( δηη )

max
. Multiplying it
by 100 we may get the % error in η