Coursework investigation: The Pendulum
How the simple pendulum was discovered:
Galileo was once attending a church service at the cathedral Pisa when a lamp distracted his attention that was suspended from the roof by a chain swinging. He noticed the time of swing of the lamp remained constant even when the oscillations were fading. The lamp was behaving as a pendulum. Galileo realised that a pendulum could be used to run a clock. Galileo left plans for making this clock when he died in 1642, and in 1657 the Dutch scientist, Christian Huygens, made the first successful pendulum clock.
Prediction:
I predict that the longer the string is, the longer the pendulum period will become.
This is because the pendulum has to travel further to reach the same angle of displacement and because the force of the gravity is the same no matter what the length of the string is, so the acceleration will be the same. So the pendulum that has to travel the furthest will take the longest amount of time.
Aim:
To investigate the period of swing of a pendulum.
Planning Experimental Procedures:
How the simple pendulum was discovered:
Galileo was once attending a church service at the cathedral Pisa when a lamp distracted his attention that was suspended from the roof by a chain swinging. He noticed the time of swing of the lamp remained constant even when the oscillations were fading. The lamp was behaving as a pendulum. Galileo realised that a pendulum could be used to run a clock. Galileo left plans for making this clock when he died in 1642, and in 1657 the Dutch scientist, Christian Huygens, made the first successful pendulum clock.
Prediction:
I predict that the longer the string is, the longer the pendulum period will become.
This is because the pendulum has to travel further to reach the same angle of displacement and because the force of the gravity is the same no matter what the length of the string is, so the acceleration will be the same. So the pendulum that has to travel the furthest will take the longest amount of time.
Aim:
To investigate the period of swing of a pendulum.
Planning Experimental Procedures: