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at 05/07/2006 2:46 PM Visits: 217
dance showThe sextant (or perhaps "quadrant" would be more correct) consists
of a right angled frame subtended by a protractor, similar to a normal sextant. At the end of each arm of the right angled frame is a mass held by a spring in a slider. Both of the sliders are parallel to one of the arms, as illustrated below: Oriented so that the plane of the sextant contains the center of the field source, rotate the sextant until the displacements of the masses in the two sliders are equal, and then sight the field source on a line through the corner of the frame, and mark the angle on the protractor. The angle "theta" between the line of sight and the slider direction is related to the exponent c in the force law according to the equation tan^2(theta) + (c+1)tan(theta) - c = 0 For example, if the angle reads 29.3165 degrees, then we have c=2, so we know the field obeys an inverse square force law. On the other hand, if the angle reads 22.5 degrees, then c=1, and the field obeys a simple inverse law. If the angle reads 32.8524 degrees, then the field obeys an inverse cube law. now this is all beyond me . but what do i know i just copied it from somewhere and pasted it somewhere else . i like the different look in the different formats . process , progress , project . the doing is as fun as the thinking . |
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