WE CHOSE A HISTORICAL CONNECTION AS THE FORMAT TO ILLUSTRATE OUR PROJECT. A HISTORICAL CONNECTION BEST ILLUSTRATES OUR PROJECT BECAUSE IT ACCURATELY REPRESENTS HOW ATWOOD'S MACHINE TRACES BACK TO A DIFFERENT ERA.
ATWOOD'S MACHINE
Through history, Atwood's machine has improved the lives of many. People have created wells, elevators, and garage doors from this model. It is applied to everyday tasks and objects and it is unrecognized when it comes into use. It incorporates the use of masses, tension, and acceleration as it balances the weight. Through trials and laws of physics, one can prove Newton's second law of motion and how it comes into play. The machine performs based on structure, which derives from the formula, which is a=(m2 - m1)g / (m1 + m2).
Atwood's Machine was invented by mathematician George Atwood in the year 1784. Atwood is known for a textbook on Newtonian mechanics describing impact and the harmony of motion. This describes in detail a machine, known as Atwood's machine, to demonstrate the laws of accelerated motion due to gravity. The machine had been constructed by George Adams, a London instrument maker, to Atwood's request and the first preview of it appeared in French in 1780. Alessandro Volta had requested the machine, and copies had also been sent to Spain, but Atwood was pressed to publish a description.
This machine is composed of a string, a pulley and a system of masses. Atwood conducted experiments to verify the mechanical laws of motion with constant acceleration. Newton’s Second Law conveys that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the force applied and directly pertains to acceleration, which Atwood's Machine is used to prove this theorem. This machine overall demonstrates the basic principles of acceleration and dynamics which goes all the way to the 17th and 18th century.
Atwood's Machine is still at use today. It is incorporated in garage hoists, counter- weight elevators, funicular railways, and ski lifts. An example of a counter-weight elevator is the ones from the famous Eiffel Tower which counterbalance each other. The ski lift is also similar to the counter-weight elevator, but with a constraining force provided by the cable in the vertical dimension which creates work in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Boat lifts are also another type of Atwood machine that is used throughout the world.