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arXiv · 1106.1823

Investigating viscous damping using a webcam

Sohaib Shamim·Wasif Zia·Muhammad Sabieh Anwar
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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 \pm 0.07 mPa s for distilled water is in good agreement with the accepted value at 20\circC. This experiment has been successfully employed in the freshman lab setting.

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Sohaib Shamim, Wasif Zia, Muhammad Sabieh Anwar. 2011-06-09. Investigating viscous damping using a webcam. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3298370

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