SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION

SIMPLE
PENDULUM

Acceleration Due to Gravity

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................. 3

II.

OBJECTIVE.................................................................................................... 4

III.

PROCEDURE............................................................................................... 4

IV.

APPARATUS................................................................................................ 5

V.

HYPOTHESIS.................................................................................................. 6

VI.

ASSUMPTIONS............................................................................................ 6

VII.

PRECAUTIONS............................................................................................ 6

VIII.

FINDINGS................................................................................................... 7

IX.

RESULTS.................................................................................................... 7

X.

DISCUSSION.................................................................................................. 9

XI.

CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 11

XII.

REFERENCE.............................................................................................. 12

Acceleration Due to Gravity

I.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Everything on this planet vibrates, no matter the mass or weight things on this planet rocks
back and forth in an oscillating manner. This can be simulated using a simple pendulum. By
suspending a certain mass with a piece of string we can create a Simple Harmonics Motion
apparatus in which we can measure how something is affected by gravity. The principle that
Galileo first observed and modern technology has built upon, is how the back and forth
motion of the pendulum is affected by the length of the string that bob is attached to.
The back and forth motion is called the period and does not depend on the mass of the
pendulum or on the size of the arc in which the string swings from.
Another factor involved in the period of motion is, the acceleration due to gravity (g), which
on the earth is 9.8 m/s2. It follows then that a long pendulum has a greater period than a
shorter pendulum.
With the assumption of small angles, the frequency and period of the pendulum are
independent of the initial angular displacement amplitude. All simple pendulums should have
the same period regardless of their initial angle (and regardless of their masses). The period
(T) for a simple pendulum does not depend on the mass or the initial angular displacement,
but depends only on the length (L) of the string and the value of the gravitational field
strength g.

Description of a pendulum: A simple pendulum is a rigid rod with a weight on the end of it, which, when given
an initial push, will swing back and forth under the influence of gravity over its central (lowest) point.

Acceleration Due to Gravity

II.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the acceleration due to gravity by means of a simple pendulum.

III.

PROCEDURE

Tie the string onto the bob of brass

Place the string onto the cork
Secure the cork into the clamp of the retort-stand
Measure the string with the metre rule to a desired height
Line up the string at 90 degrees from the cork.
Pull the brass while keeping the string extended downwards away from the

90 degree angle (approx. 5degrees -10degrees)

Release the brass while timing with the stop watch the number of complete

oscillation (maximum no# 20)

Record the time (T1)
Repeat for time (T2)
Calculate and plot graph using formulas:
T=2 (L/g)
g = 4L/T2
y=mx+c

IV.

APPARATUS

Bob of brass
Length of thread
Cork
Stop watch
Retort stand
Clamp
Metre rule

Acceleration Due to Gravity

V.

Protractor

HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis: As weight increases, the time will stay the same.

Hypothesis: As the height of the release increases, so will the time.

Hypothesis: We dont think that the length of the string will affect the time.

VI.

ASSUMPTIONS

The time-period in which the pendulum oscillates increases as the length of the

pendulum decreases.
Mass does not affect the angular acceleration while the amplitude of the sine

relationship is proportional to gravity.

The amplitude of the sine relationship is inversely proportional to length of the

pendulum.
The time-period in which pendulum oscillates does not depend on the angle of the
angle of revolution if the angle is small enough.

VII.

PRECAUTIONS
These precautions while measuring the period of oscillations can be done to minimize
the errors during this lab:
1) At the bottom of the swing, the string can stretch affecting its length and
therefore affecting its period.
2) The angle in which the pendulum is released from can determine the
harmonic motion. The smaller the angle, the closer to harmonic motion it will
behave because the restoring force is acting tangent to the arc, the pendulum

Acceleration Due to Gravity

moves through instead of being outside of it. Keep the angle at which you
draw out the pendulum less that about 12 degrees.
3) The bob material has to be taken into consideration; the pendulums mass is
measured to the center of mass of the bob. A small spherical bob is much
preferred over a long one. This will eliminate or minimize a greater amount of
error due to air resistance.
VIII.

FINDINGS

In observation, the mass of the bob has no effect on the time of the pendulums oscillation
and this can be proven by the use of these equations:
T=2 (L/g)
g = 4L/T2
N.B: (According to the formulas, it shows that mass is not used) .The graph of the length of
string increases so does the time of oscillation
IX.

RESULTS

Table 1: RECORDED DATA

TIME (T1)

TIME (T2)

TIME (T)

FOR 20

FOR 20

FOR 1

(M)

SWINGS/S

SWINGS/S

SWINGS/S

1.0

40.1

40.6

2.0

LENGTH

FREQUEN
T^2/S^2

CY (HZ)

GRAVITY

4.1

0.5

9.7

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0.9

37.8

38.0

1.9

3.6

0.5

9.9

0.8

35.7

35.7

1.8

3.2

0.6

9.9

0.7

33.4

32.9

1.7

2.7

0.6

10.1

0.6

30.7

30.8

1.5

2.4

0.7

10.0

0.5

28.0

27.9

1.4

2.0

0.7

10.1

T = time for one oscillation of the pendulum (s)

l = Length of pendulum's string (m)
g = acceleration due to gravity (ms-2)

Acceleration Due to Gravity

X.

DISCUSSION

T^2/S^2
4.50
4.00
3.50

3.59

3.18

3.00

T^2/S^2

2.74

2.50
2.00

4.07

f(x) = 4.2x - 0.16

Linear (T^2/S^2)

2.36
1.96

1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

AB=1.0-05=0.5m
BC=4.07-1.96=2.11m
Gradient equation:
y = mx + c
y=4.196x -0.162
In order to calculate the acceleration of gravity, I found the gradient of the time line vs. length
to be m=4.196m.
Calculations:
g = (4)* 1/T2
T^2=4.07m
The acceleration due to gravity,
g = 9.7 m/s2

Acceleration Due to Gravity

Acceleration due to gravity from graph

Value or length= AB = 0.5m
Value for T2 = BC = 2.11m
AB / BC = 0.236m
g = (4)*(AB/BC)
Acceleration due to gravity,
g=9.4m/s2
Acceleration due to gravity (g) at the place
o By calculation =9.7ms-2
o From the graph =9.4 ms-2
o Mean g =9.55.ms-2

Errors were made during this experiment with the reaction time. According to the T1 and T2
measurements, there are times in which the reaction time was too high or low in comparison
to each other. Errors could also have been in the miscount of the amount of complete
oscillation when recording 20 oscillations. In order to eliminate this error, another
measurement was taken of 20 oscillations and recorded. The sum of T1 and T2 was divided
by the total numbers of oscillations (40) and average was calculated. The more
measurements taken, the less likely the final results will be erratic.
My measurements confirmed my hypothesis that the period of the pendulum oscillations does
not depend on the mass, either the angle of revolution, and the period of the pendulum
oscillations increases as the length of the pendulum decreases. To verify that the oscillations

Acceleration Due to Gravity

do not depends on the mass, another material with a different mass can be used with the same
length of string.
The value of gravity depends on the location that the experiment was done. For example, if
this experiment was done in Mexico or Denver in the U.S, the measurement of gravity would
have differed from the gravity in Trinidad and Tobago.
XI.

CONCLUSION

My results also show that as the length of the pendulum's string increases, so does the time of
oscillation. I have calculated a mean value for g as 9.55 ms-2. (2s.f). this is approximately
around the standard measurement of gravity of 9.8 ms-2. Therefore, we can conclude that;
a) The period of the simple pendulum oscillations increases as the length of the
pendulum increases.
b) The period of the simple pendulum oscillations varies as square of the length of
pendulum.
c) The period of the simple pendulum oscillations does not depend on the mass of the
load or the angle of revolution.

Acceleration Due to Gravity

XII.

REFERENCE
(n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015.
http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/academicdepartments/physci/science25/Documents/Exp_2.
pdf

(n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015.

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=120352
The Simple Pendulum Experiment :: Papers. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015.
http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/sard7r2/intro.htm

What precautions do we need to take while measuring time intervals using a simple
pendulum? - Homework Help - eNotes.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015.
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-precautions-do-we-need-take-whilemeasuring-113829

Acceleration Due to Gravity