Investigating viscous damping using a webcam
Abstract
We describe an experiment involving a mass oscillating in a viscous fluid and analyze viscous damping of harmonic motion. The mechanical oscillator is tracked using a simple webcam and an image processing algorithm records the position of the geometrical center as a function of time. Interesting information can be extracted from the displacement-time graphs, in particular for the underdamped case. For example, we use these oscillations to determine the viscosity of the fluid. Our mean value of 1.08 0.07 mPa s for distilled water is in good agreement with the accepted value at 20. This experiment has been successfully employed in the freshman lab setting.
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