MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Salt Shaker Analysis (MIT 2.671)
About the Project
This project was made for 2.671: Measurement and Instrumentation. The class required us to conduct a semester long experiment on a topic of our choice. I decided to analyze how the shaking frequency and the angle that a salt shaker is held at affect the rate that it dispenses salt.
Experimental Setup
For my setup, a small plastic salt shaker was mounted to a PAAS Vernier speaker accessory using a custom 3D printed clamp and mounting plate. The mounting plate contained multiple sets of holes to allow for the testing of different shaking angles. The speaker driven by a function generator, allowing the shaking frequency and amplitude to be changed for different tasks. An electric balance was placed on the table underneath the salt shaker to catch the falling salt and measure the mass expelled over time.The balance was connected to LoggerPro software, which plotted the mass on the balance at each time step. Data was collected until all salt was expelled from the shaker.
Salt Shaker
Results
After measuring a number of different frequencies and tilt angles, I found that salt flow rate increased as shaking frequency increased up until a certain point, after which flow rate began to decrease. Of the three tilt angles I tested (45 degrees, 60 degrees, 30 degrees), the 30 degree tilt angle had a significantly reduced flow rate compared to the others, while the differences between the other two angles was not statistically significant.
The full paper that I made for this class, which explains the experiment and its results in more detail, can be seen below.