Question

The length of the beam of a cannot balance shown in the figure is 100 cm. The pans (P and Q) and the strings used to suspend them to the beam in its edges are identical. The hook (H) that is used to lift the balance is arranged at 50.5 cm from the end of the beam where the pan Q is suspended.

The pan P is used for placing the standard weights. If a customer buys 9 kg of a material using the pan, find the percentage loss in the mass.

Answer 1

The information given in the question is shown in the diagram
Applying the principle of moments,
we get (9 kgwt `xx` 49.5 cm) = (x kgwt `xx` 50.5 cm)
X=8.8 kgwt
Hence, the loss = 9 kgwt - 8.8 kgwt = 0.2 kgwt
`rArr` percentage loss `=(0.2 kgwt)/(9 kgwt)xx100 = 2.2 %`