Simple pendulum experiment

A string measured to be over 1 meter, so when its length was being adjusted there was enough string to pull on from between the wooden blocks, was tied to a bob. The end of the string was then placed between two wooden blocks and adjusted so that the length of the pendulum was 1 meter. The wood blocks were then placed in the clamp and the grip was tightened. The pendulum suspension was made sure to be friction-free so that the wood blocks could provide a point of suspension for the string.

The angle at which the pendulum is drawn out should be small. The smaller the angle, the closer the harmonic motion will behave because the restoring force is acting tangent to the arc - the pendulum moves through instead of being outside of it. The time taken for 20 oscillations with the length of the pendulum being 1 meter was recorded but was also repeated for accuracy. The two times were averaged and the result was divided by 20 so as to find the time for one oscillation which was then squared.

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The length of the pendulum was decreased by 0. 1 m each time. The pendulum should swing freely without hitting anything. A table was drawn to record the results and from this a graph was plot. Results: Table showing the time taken for 20 oscillations for each length. Time for 20 oscillations l/m t1/s t2/s AverageGradient = g g= gradient g = 0. 24ms-2 39. 48 = 9. 79 ms-2

Conclusion: Using a simple pendulum, the acceleration due to gravity was concluded to be 9.

79 ms-2.

References

• Britannica - Simple Harmonic Motion
• The Physics Classroom Website