Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
Simple Pendulum Lab
Instructions
Important Note: - If you do any work on Excel, you need to submit the Excel file also to get marks.
In this experiment, you will explore the oscillations of a simple pendulum. In Part 1 of the experiment, you will
investigate the relationship between the angle of oscillation and the period of the simple pendulum. In Part 2, you will
calculate the acceleration due to gravity on Planet X.
1.
the link to the virtual lab Simple Pendulum Lab.
(https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/pendulum-lab/latest/pendulum-lab_en.html)
2. Click
on the screen.
Part 1
1. Confirm that the Length 1 is set at 0.70 m, the Mass 1 is set at 1.00 kg, Gravity is set at Earth, 9.81 m/s2, and
Friction is set at None.
2.
the Ruler to make it available. Drag the ruler to confirm that the Length 1 of 0.70 m is the length from the
point of suspension to the center of mass of the pendulum.
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
3. Drag the blue pendulum mass to one side so that the angle it makes with the vertical becomes 3˚ and then
release it. The pendulum will begin to oscillate.
4.
mark the Period Timer to make it available and then
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
the
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
button of the Period Timer to start it.
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
5. Write down the angle of oscillation and the period of the pendulum in the table below. Repeat the steps for the
angles of oscillation 5˚, 10˚, 15˚, 20˚, 25˚, 35˚, and 45˚. Do NOT change the length of the pendulum.
Angle of Oscillation
(degrees)
Period (s)
rounded to 2 decimal places
1.
2
1.68 s
2.
3
1.68 s
3.
4
1.68 s
4.
5
1.68 s
5.
6
1.68 s
6.
10
1.68 s
7.
15
1.69 s
8.
20
1.70 s
9.
25
1.70 s
10.
35
1.72 s
11.
45
1.75 s
#
6. Plot a graph between the period of the pendulum and the angle of oscillation. The graph must have the correct
labels for the title, axes, and units. You can plot it by hand on a graph paper, take a picture and paste it here.
You could also use Microsoft Excel to generate the graph and paste that chart here.
Period of pendulum Vs angle of the graph
1,76
Period of pendulum m/s
1,75
1,74
1,73
1,72
1,71
1,7
1,69
1,68
1,67
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Angle of displacement / degree
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
7. What is the trend for angles of oscillation up to 10˚ and what is the trend beyond 10°? What does it mean?
The time period remains the same up to 10˚ oscillation. Beyond 10˚ the time period changes.
8. If you were performing this experiment using a simple pendulum, what precaution would you take based on
what you learnt from the graph? We need to keep the angle of displacement always less than 10˚
Part 2
1. Confirm that the Length 1 is set at 0.70 m, the Mass 1 is set at 1.00 kg, and Friction is set at None.
dropdown to change from Earth to Planet X.
the
2. Drag the blue pendulum mass to one side so that the angle it makes with the vertical becomes 3˚ and then
release it. The pendulum will begin to oscillate.
3.
mark the Stopwatch to make it available.
4. Let a few oscillations occur then
the Stopwatch just as the pendulum passes its mean (center) position
moving to right. Count 10 complete oscillations and
the stopwatch just as it crosses the mean position
going to right. Write down the time for 10 oscillations in the table below. (Important note: one oscillation is the
time to go from mean position to the right extreme, back to mean and then to left extreme and then back to
the mean position.)
Length of pendulum (m)
L
Time for 10 oscillations (s)
t
Period of oscillation (s)
T
Round to 2 decimal places
1.
0.70
14.04
1.4
2.
0.75
14.44
1.4
3.
0.80
15.19
1.5
#
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
4.
0.85
15.39
1.5
5.
0.90
15.87
1.5
6.
0.95
16.20
1.6
7.
1.00
16.80
1.6
5. Repeat the steps above for the length of pendulum values shown in the table.
6. Calculate the period of oscillation for each length by dividing the time for 10 oscillations by 10 and write the
values rounded to 2 decimal places in the table above.
7. Plot a graph of T vs L using the data in the table. The graph must have the correct labels for the title, axes, and
units. You can plot it by hand on a graph paper, take a picture and paste it here. You could also use Microsoft
Excel to generate the graph and paste that chart here.
Y-Values
1,65
1,6
1,55
1,5
1,45
1,4
1,35
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
8. The shape of the graph obtained in step 7 is not a straight line (the graph is not linear). Which two variables
(dependent on data you already have) can you choose to plot a graph so that you get a straight-line best fit?
Clue: The period of a simple pendulum is given by
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
𝑇 = 2𝜋√𝐿/𝑔.
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
9. Write down the variable names identified in the previous step and their units in the column headers of the table
below. Enter the data for the two variables by using your original observations. Round all values to 2 decimal
places.
Length of the pendulum
T^2
1.
0.70
1.96
2.
0.75
1.96
3.
0.80
2.25
4.
0.85
2.25
5.
0.90
2.25
6.
0.95
2.56
7.
1.00
2.56
#
10. Plot a graph of the linearized data from the table in Step 9. The graph must have the correct labels for the title,
axes, and units. You can plot it by hand on a graph paper, take a picture and paste it here. You could also use
Microsoft Excel to generate the graph and paste that chart here.
Y-Values
3
y = 2.1429x + 0.4343
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
0
0,2
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
0,4
0,6
0,8
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
1
1,2
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Science Laboratory Assessment
Elite Physics Grade 11
11. Write the equation of the line of best fit in the graph above. You can also use Microsoft Excel to do that.
y = 2.1429x + 0.4343
12. What is the slope of the line of best-fit (please provide units) and what physical quantity does it represent?
T^2 / L
13. Use the formula 𝑇 = 2𝜋√𝐿/𝑔 to connect the slope of the line with the quantity it represents. Show your steps.
Slope of linearized graph = 2.85 s^2 / m
14. Using the value of the slope, calculate the acceleration of gravity on Planet X.
g = 4π^2 x 0.47
g = 18.422 m/s^2
Elite Physics Grade 11 Simple Pendulum Lab
Term 2, 2022-23 academic year
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