1. The Inertial Balance
Il Bottoni fa scienza 2013
IIIC

2. How do spacemen
measure mass in space?

3. We have repeated
the experiment simulating
the absence of gravity.

4. Data Collection
Mass (g) t. oscillation (s) St. Dev. oscillation (s)
86 0,37 0,01
186 0,47 0,01
286 0,56 0,01
386 0,65 0,02
486 0,72 0,01
586 0,78 0,02

5. Data Processing
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
f(x) = 0.06 x^0.40
R² = 0.99
Mass (g)
Time(s)

6. Could it be a quadratic dependance?
Time^2 - Mass
Mass (g) T. oscillation (s) St. Dev oscillation (s) T^2 St. Dev.
86 0,37 0,01 0,13 0,01
186 0,47 0,01 0,23 0,01
286 0,56 0,01 0,32 0,02
386 0,65 0,02 0,42 0,02
486 0,72 0,01 0,52 0,02
586 0,78 0,02 0,61 0,03

7. Data Processing 2
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
f(x) = 0.00x + 0.05
R² = 1.00
Mass (g)
Time^2(s^2)

8. We must calculate
an unknown mass
T=0,53 s
T²=0,28 s²

9. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
f(x) = 0.00x + 0.05
R² = 1.00
Calibration graph
Mass (g)
Time^2(s^2)
M=250 g – 86 g = 164 g

10. Outcomes
M=164 g M=157 g