Pendulums
Connor, Parker, & Isaiah
Part A
Grandfather Clock
Wrecking ball
Metronome
Examples
Swing
Diving board
Bungee jumping
Foucault pendulum
Newton's cradle
• Definition:
A Pendulum and
its Motion
• A pendulum is an object attached via a
string to a fixed point all of which is a
part of a larger body with space for the
object to freely oscillate between 2
linear directions.
• Motion:
• When the pendulum is shifted to an
initial angle and released, it will
oscillate back and forth in a regular
periodic motion, eventually slowing due to loss of kinetic energy due to
friction – to a stop
Part B
• Motion:
• Oscillates on a linear plane
Preliminary
Findings
• Can move perpendicular to the
plane of oscillation
• The fixed bar must not alter
otherwise the motion of the
pendulum will deviate off its linear
plane of motion
Dependent
• The period of the motion
• Time for one oscillation
Variables
Independent
• Length of pendulum arm
Control
• The mass
• Release position
Preliminary
Experimentation
• The longer pendulum arm seemed to
oscillate slower than the short
pendulum arm
Part C
Hypothesis
• A greater pendulum arm length
will result in a longer period for
one oscillation
• Independent Variable
• The length of the pendulum arm
• Dependent Variable
• The period of the motion
Procedure
Procedure
Attached a
hooked metal
pendulum to
stand
Set distances
using stand
clamps
Set release angle
using a string as
a guide
Held pendulum
at maximum
length of string
Released
pendulum
normal to the
stand
Upon release,
the timer started
and timed 10
oscillations
Repeated 3 times
for each of the
two arm lengths
Averaged the
times and
displayed results
on chart
Part D
• Length of Pendulum arms
• 19 cm
• 12.8 cm
• Period for 19 cm pendulum arm
Experimental
Data
• 8.89 s
• 8.55 s
• 8.87 s
• Average: 8.77 +- 0.01 s
• Period for 12.8 cm pendulum arm
• 7.09 s
• 7.04 s
• 6.98 s
• Average: 7.04 +- 0.01 s
Final data
• Average 10 oscillation
• 19 cm arm
• 8.77 s +- 0.01s
• 12.8 cm arm
• 7.04 s +- 0.01 s
• Average 1 oscillation
• 19 cm arm
• 0.877 s +-0.001
• 12.8 cm arm
• 0.704 s +- 0.001
Part E
• A greater pendulum arm length will
result in a longer period for one
oscillation
Conclusion
• Upon gathering the data, we can
definitively say that the hypothesis
was correct.
• Ways of improvement
• Fix the fixed point of the pendulum arm as it
did deviate from its linear plane of motion
• Add an additional pendulum arm length