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If I have a rod,made of some metal,what experiment should I perform to check whether or not the mass is evenly distributed in the rod i.e how to check whether it has the same density all over?

user472374
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2 Answers2

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If the rod is not too heavy, you might use two fingers and move them into the middle to evaluate wheter the geometrical center is the same as the center of gravitiy. The mass is evenly distributed, if your fingers meet in the middle and if you are able to balance the rod there.

mss
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  • Agreed;But this could also suggest that the mass is symmetrically distributed about the geometric centre of the rod,so we can’t be sure. – user472374 Oct 28 '17 at 11:51
  • If one could possibly measure (at home I won't be able) just apply same force at different distance from an end and look if resulting torque go smoothly with the supposed one. I was thinking of pendulum too but this has the same limitation of previous comment. – Alchimista Oct 28 '17 at 11:58
  • I thought about this idea,similar calculations but also practical..We could keep the rod near the edge of the table and push it in steps of small distance and find out where it falls down – user472374 Oct 28 '17 at 12:03
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If this had to be done, I would design a lead shield/collimator apparatus such that I could take a neutron source and measure the neutron flux with and without the rod between apparatus and neutron detector. Measure these at 1 cm steps along the length of the rod. The ratio of neutron flux with and without rod should be constant.

Natsfan
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