Investigation of the relationship between period and length for a simple pendulum and the determination of g

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Pendulum Laboratory Report

Investigation of the relationship between period and length for a simple pendulum and the determination of g

  • Introduction

A simple pendulum consists of a point mass 'm', suspended from a fixed point using a mass less ideal string of length 'l', such that it can move forth and back from its mean position. When the simple pendulum is set in motion, it moves back and forth periodically. One complete to and fro movement of a pendulum about its mean position is known as an oscillation or vibration. The time taken for one oscillation is known as the time period (T). The time it takes to make complete oscillation is called the frequency 'ƒ' of the oscillation is the number of oscillation simple pendulum made in one second:  ƒ = 1 / T. Here are the laws of a simple pendulum:

  • The period of a simple pendulum of constant length is independent of its mass, size, shape or material.
  • The period of a simple pendulum is independent of the amplitude of oscillation, provided it is small.
  • The period of a simple pendulum is directly proportional to the square root of length of the pendulum.
  • The period of a simple pendulum is inversely proportional to the square root of the acceleration due to gravity.  
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*where T = time for 1 cycle (s), l = length of pendulum (m), g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)

This study invests the relationship between the period and the length of a simple pendulum to determine the approximate value of the acceleration due to gravity g on planet Earth and planet X.

  • Materials and Methods

The virtual experiment was done online on 25th Febuary, 2012, at the Pendulum lab 2.03 (PhET, 2011) . The apparatus was placed as shown in Figure 1. A digital clock at the toolbox was used to measure the time t for 10 complete oscillations. The ...

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