IML3513 Introduction to Mechanics, Power and Materials 20 / 11 / 2018
Abdulla Shareef Name and date important 9 November 2018
Volume of a cola can … Title is important
Hypothesis
Given that cola can is approximately resembling a cylinder, we can find its volume using the
equation
V = r 2 h
where V is volume, r is the radius and h is the height (Put source / citation to show where you
got the equation or the idea. In order to gain full credit here you must indicate that you have
done further reading or research).
According to this we expect a linear relationship between the height of the cola and the
amount of cola in the can because the above equation is in the form y = mx which is the
equation of a straight line passing through the origin.
The diagram can be hand drawn or
diagram, e.g. from internet, then
by computer. But if you copy a
Method
In order to test the hypothesis we will fill the can
citation must be given.
with water to different heights in cm and measure
the amount of water in cm3.
The apparatus required are:
- a jug of tap water
- a transparent cylinder
- a metre ruler List of apparatus and diagram
- a stand with clamp both required for full credit.
- a measuring cylinder
- some tissue paper
The apparatus is set up as shown in the diagram.
Add water to and measure the height using the
metre ruler. Measure the volume of the water
using the measuring cylinder.
The volume is measured for different heights from 0 up 100 cm by increasing the height in 10
cm, producing 10 data points. The number of data points (10) and the range 0 to 100 cm will
help to reveal the relationship more clearly.
Dr A Shareef INTO London World Education Centre
Table of data
Volume 0.1 / cm3 Average
Height of water 0.1 / cm
V1 V2 V3 volume / cm3
You can write some comments here identifying any obvious pattern of data and identifying
any anomalies.
Graph (graph can be part of data analysis)
Draw the graph using Microsoft excel and get a copy of it here. Roughly about the size
shown here is good.
The text and numbers (labels and scales) on the graph must be about font size 10 or 10.5.
Data analysis and discussions (or results and discussion)
Show your calculations here. E.g. gradient of your graph or any other important calculations.
Remember to use a large triangle when finding gradient and show the triangle on your graph.
Discuss the quality of your best fit.
E.g. The best fit line fits the data pretty well, except for the last data point. If we omitted the
first and the last data point (which we should do, because of the indentions in this part of the
bottle), the data points fall on an almost perfect best-fit-line (with a non-zero intercept). All
data points fall on the best-fit line within their uncertainty.
Show error calculations and discuss errors here. Calculate the largest % error in s and argue
that % error in other values of s are smaller. Calculate the largest % error in t. This would be
quite large. So calculate the largest % error in average t which would be reasonably small.
Compare your value with accept value (if possible) by finding % difference and discuss how
consistent this is with the % errors in the experiment.
Following are some good points you can include in your discussion section
• General scatter of data points (before drawing the line)
o as “x” increases “y” linearly / non-linearly? (1)
o In agreement with the initial hypothesis / theory? (1)
• Can you draw a best fit line / curve?
o Do the data points lie close to the best fit line / curve? (1) Relate to random
errors. (1) In general, if the points are close to the best fit line there are little
random errors.
o Is there any anomalous data point? (1) What might have caused this? How did
you handle this? (1)
o Does the line go through / close to the origin? (1) Was this expected? What is the
significance of this? (1)
• Comment about experimental errors (1) and particular procedures followed to reduce
these. (1)
• Did you have any particular difficulty which could have led to significant errors? (1)
How did you attempt to minimise this? (1)
•
• The smaller the percentage difference you have obtained in 8 above the closer you are to
the actual value / comment on % difference & % errors / compare these. (1)
o But it could have been a coincidence. How could you argue it was not a
coincidence? (1)
• Overall statement of conclusion. (1)
Conclusion
Write your conclusion here. E.g.
Our expectation of a linear relationship between volume and height seems correct. The data
very well supports this notion as the data falls on a straight line in the V-h graph. The fact
that the intercept is non-zero (as we would expect) can be accounted for by the indentations at
the lower end of the bottle. The slope has little physical meaning, except that it is
proportional to the average area of the bottle.
Although this sample was developed originally for IML3513 Mechanics it applies to all
physics modules.
