Pendulum Experiment - varying string length and bob weight

       

*The period did not start at 0.

Table C

      Mass of bob constant 100mg, amplitude of swing = 6 cm

Rounded to two decimal place since uncertainty for this was 0.01seconds

     

Processed Data

In order to linearize the graph, I have used the equation   to find out that T^2 is directly proportional to L. That gave me this graph and table.

**This was calculated to be 0.025 through the uncertainty rules. Therefore the uncertainty of the square root of length is 0.03.

*Rounded to two decimal place since uncertainty for this was 0.01seconds

*** This was calculated to be 0.0216 through the uncertainty rules. Therefore the uncertainty of the square root of length is 0.03.

I first graphed the graph of Length agaisnst period²

I then graphed Length² agaisnst period

I then decided to graph T² and square root of L.

This graph showed when Period ² was 0, square root of length was also 0.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as my data suggest, the period of the pendulum is not affected by the mass of the bob and the amplitude of the swing. However, from the graphs I have made, I have concluded that the length of the string does affect the period of the pendulum. As the length of the string increases, the time taken to complete its period is increases by a fixed rate, in this case an average 0.15 seconds.

The primary sources of errors are the accuracy or our measuring tool as well as the human errors taken place while timing the pendulum. This created an unfair test as the strings may not have been exactly the length as recorded. The retort stand was also unstable and may have an effect on our results which was not taken into account. While timing the pendulums, the string was not tightly tied to the retort stand, but instead was held by one of our group members. This may have cause a slight change to the length of the string affecting our results.

Finally, to improve our accuracy and reduce the errors, we should have a more accurate measuring tool such as one with smaller units like the callipers. In addition to that, a more stable retort stand should have been used.