The Pendulum 7/11/2017
Purpose:
The pendulum can be described as a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. We know that a long pendulum will perform a simple harmonic motion. A whole oscillation for this pendulum is called period referred as T. The objective of this lab is to learn how to obtain the period of a pendulum that swings freely in a simple harmonic motion. By doing this we will better understand how the period depends on the amplitude of the pendulum.
Theory/Background:
When the pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting position, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force that is given by the gravity, this force will accelerate it back towards its equilibrium. Because of this we can apply the simple harmonic equations to this experiment. A bob was attached to one end of the string and released from different starting points. The point of pulling the bob away from the equilibrium point and releasing it from different lengths was to determine whether the amplitude had any effect on the period because it makes sense to believe that something far away from its equilibrium would take longer to get back; however, the further the bob was from equilibrium the more potential energy it gained, making up for the distance away from the starting point. According to the graph Amplitude vs. Period, there was no significant relationship between the two.
Experiment:
Equipment:
1) String (approximately 1 meter long)
2) Scale
3) Two bobs (steel and wood)
Procedure:
The steps we took to complete this experiment were quite simple. First we held the pendulum at a determined distance from its equilibrium state. We then had to let go of it and then take time of how long would it be for it to complete its period. We completed this for 5 different distances.
Calculations/Graphs:
Part 1: Dependence on Amplitude
The amplitude does not effect on period. Results show that the period has not much difference against amplitude.
Part 2: Dependence on Mass
· Mass of the steel bob = 65.8 g
· Mass of the wooden bob = 6.7
Mass is not effecting to the period, result shows the period is almost same in deference masses. We used steel bob it was 65.8 grams of weight, and gave 1.486 second as the period. Then we did same experiment with wooden bob, which was 6.7 grams of weight, and gave 1.471 second as its period. So both periods are very close to each other.
Part 3: Dependence...
