These questions are about the experiment we did in class today. We determined our force constant using our calibration graphs and got k =.949 N,
Do you mean .949 N / cm?
The force constant for the chain of rubber bands would be the slope of the graph of the chain's length vs. force.
Is this what you used? I ask because .949 N/cm seems too high and .949 N/m seems too low for a chain of rubber bands like the one you used.
next we calculated Torque = force*moment arm = .949 N * .16 m = .15184 m N. I used this to calculate angular acceleration, alpha = torque/inertia = .15184 m N/.0018 kg m^2 = 84.36 rad/s^2.
Later in your notes you said that observed angular accelerations range from .3 to about .6 rad/s^2. Did I mess up somewhere in my calculations? Why is my angular acceleration so much different?
In the previous experiment, where we let the strap coast to rest, the range of observed angular accelerations was between .3 and .6 rad/s^2.
To figure out the initial angular velocity of your system just after the rubber band has released it, you need to use its angular acceleration along with its angular displacement and the fact that it ends up at rest.