Group 6 2B-PH

31 MORON, Rey Sebastian S.

32 PAZON, Andrew D.
33 RAMIREZ, Camille V.
34 RAQUEPO, Trisha Marie R.
35 RAZON, Don Nestor Jr. A.
36 RECABO, Peter Paul L.

Date Performed: February 11, 2016

Date Submitted: February 8, 2016

Experiment No. 2
The Simple Pendulum
ABSTRACT
A simple pendulum is an ideal system consisting of a point mass suspended by a
weightless, frictionless and inelastic string to a pivot point, allowed to swing in a back and forth
manner in a place. The experiments primary objectives are to observe the motion of a simple
pendulum, to study simple harmonic motion, to determine the factors that influence the period of
a simple pendulum, and to measure the value of acceleration due to gravity with the aid of the
simple pendulum. The experiment called for the preparation of metal bobs of various masses,
yarn, and recording instruments such as meter stick, stopwatch, and protractor.
Answers to Questions:
1. What relationship exists between the length of a pendulum and the square of its period?

The graph presented above conveys the relationship of the length of the pendulum and
the square of its period.
Based on the graph, squaring each of the time values and plotting a graph of length vs.
2
period
results to a direct proportion. This indicates length of a pendulum is directly

proportional to square of the time it take for one vibration to be completed. As the length of the
pendulum decreases, the square of the period decreases.
2. What are the factors affecting the period of a simple pendulum?
The time it takes for a simple pendulum to complete an oscillation, or simply, the period,
is influenced by different factors. When the length of a pendulum is changed, it will take more or
less time to complete an oscillation, depending on its length and acceleration due to gravity. The
period is influenced and may be varied by changing either these two factors the length of the
pendulum, and acceleration due to gravity.
Since the acceleration due to gravity is consistent and constant on Earth, the only
dependent factor affecting the period is the length of the pendulum. The length of the pendulum
exhibits a direct relationship with the square of the period. As you increase the length, the square
of the period increases as well. Length of String: The Length of the string will affect the time
period of a pendulum because it will mean that the pendulum travels a greater distance in its
oscillation. The path of the pendulum is like an arc on the bottom of circle, with the piece of
string as a radius. Thus, according to the circle theorem: C=2r, the circumference of the circle
will increase, and so will the length of length of the arc. This increases the distance travelled by
the pendulum, and therefore the time taken. Angle from which pendulum is dropped: This affects
the time period in 2 ways: The first is that it increases the length of the arc of the circle that I
talked about earlier. The bigger the angle, the bigger the proportion of the circle is taken up by
the arc. Of the 360 of a circle, the amount that the pendulum swings through is equal to twice
the angle that it is dropped at, this is because it will swing from the angle to 0 and will carry
on going for approximately the same amount as it went through due to its momentum.
Acceleration due to gravity- Gravitational potential energy (Egpe) = Mass (M) * acceleration due
to gravity (G) * height (h) We can see that varying the acceleration due to gravity will affect the
gravitational potential energy of the pendulum. Air resistance: If there was no other force acting
on it, the pendulum would keep swinging until it hit something. However, it slows down quite
quickly so we know that there must be another force acting on it. This force is friction caused by
air resistance. If we could vary the amount of air resistance acting on the pendulum then we
would vary its speed. However, without a vacuum, it is impossible to vary the air resistance and
so we can't use this as a variable. It will also remain the same and therefore act on our results
evenly so we do not need to worry about it affecting our results. Weight of the Pendulum - If we
vary the mass, it will affect the gravitational potential energy. With more energy, the pendulum
will swing faster, and therefore the time period will be shorter. However, it will be very difficult
to change the mass of a pendulum several times.
3. What must you do to the length of a simple pendulum so that its period is doubled?
The equation for the period of a pendulum can be derived from the equation of
acceleration due to gravity.
g=4 2

L
2
t

g t 2=4 2 L

t=2

L
g

This is only an estimate, appropriate only for very small angles of pendulum. At larger
angles, a circular error is introduced, but the basic equation still holds true.
In the derived equation the period is directly proportional to the square root of the length
of the pendulum. In order to double the period of the simple pendulum we need to increase the
length of the pendulum four times. Below is an example to compute the problem with the use of
our data.
Example:
2
t=1.881
8.93 14.15=4 L
t=1.881 2=3.762

t 2 =3.7622=14.15

g=4 2

L
t2

g=4 2

L
t2

126=4 2 L

L=

126
4 2

L=3.19 m
319 cm 80 4
319 cm 320 cm

8.93

m
L
=4 2
2
s
14.15 s 2

4. Determine the acceleration due to gravity in a location where a simple pendulum is

150.0 cm long m 100 vibrations in 246 s.
D=2.46 s
no . of seconds
D=
no . of vibrations

D=

246 s
100

g=4 2

L
t2

g=4 2

150.0 cm
6.05 s2

g=979 cm/s

g=9.79m/ s