The purpose of this experiment is to measure the acceleration due to gravity by means of a physical pendulum. The simple pendulum may be defined as a point mass attached to a massless unstretchable string, which is attached to a rigid support.
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How do you do a pendulum experiment in physics?
Tie the string to the weight. Then suspend your pendulum over the edge of the table so that the length of the pendulum is about 2 feet. Now pull the weight back about a foot and let your pendulum start swinging. Time it for 30 or 60 seconds and count how many times it swings back and forth.
What is the conclusion of the pendulum experiment?
The surprising conclusion – the pendulum traverses a longer distance in a shorter time, than in a shorter distance, and its period is shorter. There are a number of reasons why Galileo thought that the period remains constant.
What is the pendulum in physics?
A pendulum is a body suspended from a fixed point so that it can swing back and forth under the influence of gravity. The time interval of a pendulum’s complete back-and-forth movement is constant.
How do you do a simple pendulum lab?
What is the simple pendulum experiment?
The simple pendulum produces Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM) as the acceleration of the pendulum bob is directly proportional to its displacement from the mean position and is always directed towards it. The time period (T) of a simple pendulum for oscillations of small amplitude, is given by the relation, T = 2 ฯ โ (L/g)
What causes a pendulum to slow down and stop swinging?
When the swing is raised and released, it will move freely back and forth due to the force of gravity on it. The swing continues moving back and forth without any extra outside help until friction (between the air and the swing and between the chains and the attachment points) slows it down and eventually stops it.
What are the variables in a pendulum experiment?
The variables you will be testing are length of string, mass of pendulum, and angle of release.
What is the controlled variable in pendulum experiment?
The independent variable was the length of the pendulum and the dependant variable was the period. The controlled variables were the mass of the pendulum and the point of release. The data we collected and graphed showed that the length of the pendulum affected the period positively.
How can you make a pendulum experiment more accurate?
Improve the accuracy of a measurement of periodic time by: making timings by sighting the bob past a fixed reference point (called a fiducial point ) sighting the bob as it moves fastest past a reference point. The pendulum swings fastest at its lowest point and slowest at the top of each swing.
How do you find the g in a pendulum experiment?
What are the sources of error in a simple pendulum experiment?
The sources of errors in a simple pendulum experiment are the following: human errors comes in when measuring the period using a stopwatch. The reaction time of the observer plays a significant error when starting the stopwatch and when stopping it. This error can be minimized by repeating the experiment many times.
What are the forces acting on a pendulum?
The forces acting on the bob of a pendulum are its weight and the tension of the string. It is useful to analyze the pendulum in the radial/tangential coordinate system. The tension lies completely in the radial direction and the weight must be broken into components.
What does the pendulum equation tell us?
There are many equations to describe a pendulum. One equation tells us that the time period of the pendulum, T, is equal to 2pi times the square-root of L over g, where L is the length of the string, and g is the acceleration due to gravity (which is 9.8 on Earth).
What are the 3 parts of a pendulum?
A pendulum consists of only a few components including a length of string or wire, a bob or some type of weight and a fixed point. They can be used to prove that the planet rotates on an axis.
How do you make a simple pendulum for a school project?
- Tie a weight onto the end of the piece of string.
- Make a loop at the other end of the string.
- Screw the hook into the piece of wood and balance the wood between the backs of two chairs.
- Put the loop of string over the hook.
- Start the weight swinging and time how long it takes to make 20 swings.
What are the objectives of simple pendulum experiment?
The purposes of this experiment are: (1) to study the motion of a simple pendulum, (2) to study simple harmonic motion, (3) to learn the definitions of period, frequency, and amplitude, (4) to learn the relationships between the period, frequency, amplitude and length of a simple pendulum and (5) to determine the …
What is the hypothesis of pendulum?
The hypothesis in this case would be, “changing the amount of weight at the end of the pendulum will change the period of the pendulum.” The experiment design would involve measuring the period with one amount of weight, changing the weight without changing any other variables, then measuring the period with the new …
How does length affect the period of a pendulum?
How does the length of a pendulum’s string affect its period? (Answer: A pendulum with a longer string has a longer period, meaning it takes a longer time to complete one back and forth cycle when compared with a pendulum with a shorter string.
What is the best way to determine the period of a simple pendulum?
The formula for the period T of a pendulum is T = 2ฯ Square root ofโL/g, where L is the length of the pendulum and g is the acceleration due to gravity.
What force makes a pendulum stop swinging?
The pendulum stops eventually because of air resistance. The pendulum loses energy because of friction. Only in a theoretical situation when there is no friction the pendulum will oscillate forever. Was this answer helpful?
What causes a pendulum to slow down?
Often a pendulum clock will stop when it has been moved, bumped or even a too aggressive push to restart a pendulum.
Is Ridgeway Clocks still in business?
Howard Miller Clock purchased Ridgeway Clocks in 2004 and clock production was shifted to Michigan and the Ridgeway clocks are now built side by side the Howard Miller clocks, but the Martinsville, Va factory continued to produce curios and other furniture for several years.
What are independent and dependent variables in pendulum experiment?
3 The three pendulum variables In this experiment, the period of the pendulum is the dependent variable. There are three independent variables: the pendulum mass, the amplitude of the swing, and the length of the pendulum string.
Which variables affect the period of a pendulum?
The mass and angle are the only factors that affect the period of a pendulum.