Name _____________________ Lab Partner ___________________ Date _________ Block ___
Centripetal Force Lab
Your job is to analyze how the mass, length, and period of a pendulum affect the centripetal force. Use
platforms that have a string attached to each corner to investigate centripetal force. To add mass use water. It is
safe to assume that 1ml of water is equal to 1g of water.
Data Collected.
Mass
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
Length
Trial
Mass
(g)
1
2
3
4
5
Period
(Total time/20
revolutions)
Centripetal Force
Tensional Force
50
100
150
200
250
Mass
(you pick)
Length
(m)
.5
.6
.7
.8
.9
Mass
(you pick)
Length
(you pick)
1
2
3
4
5
Period
Trial
Length
(you pick,)
Period
(Total time/20 revolutions)
Centripetal Force
Period
(Total time/20 revolutions)
Slowest
Centripetal Force
Fastest
Using the data you’ve collected construct a graph for each of the tables. Put the dependent variable, centripetal
force, on the y-axis. Place the independent variable, mass, radius, and period, on the x-axis. Be sure to label the
axis with a name and unit of measurement. Space them out so that they fill the page. Plot the points and draw a
line of best fit. Remember this shouldn’t be a “connect the dots” style line. It should be a line of best fit.
Turn in:
- Data Table
- Work shown paper (at least one example for each calculation)
- Graph 1: Mass/Fc graph (include Ftension on the y-axis in a different color)
- Graph 2: Radius/ Fc graph
- Graph 3: Period/ Fc graph