Name: ________________________ Block: ____ An experiment to investigate what affects

the motion of a pendulum

A wrecking ball hangs from a steel cable suspended from the arm of a crane. Your job is to find
the right length of cable needed to ensure that the ball can complete one full swing back and forth
in 1 minute. You know that the time it takes for the wrecking ball to make one full swing varies with
the length of the cable. You need to perform an experiment to figure out just how the length of
cable and time it takes for 1 full swing are related.

Set up a model of the crane and wrecking ball using these materials:

• Pendulum bob (can be any object) • Clamp or weight (can be anything heavy
• String . .enough to allow you to hang the bob)
• Ruler

Draw a picture of your model:

Describe the procedure you will follow to determine the outcomes of your experiment:
State your expectation for the outcome of your experiment:

1. I think that if you increase the length of the string, the time taken for ten full swings will
be __________________________________________________________________.
2. This will be dependent on:
____________________________________________________________________,
3. and independent of: ___________________________________________________.
4. _______________________ will remain constant.

Now test your expectation using a stopwatch to measure the time for one swing and record your
data in a table. Measure the time for one swing 3 times and calculate the average. Repeat the
test by lengthening or shortening the string according to your procedure and expectation.
Calculate the average with at least 3 different lengths of string.

Put you data table here:

Now graph your data to show the relationship between the length of string and time. Identify the
independent variable (x-axis) and dependent variable (y-axis) and label them on your graph:

Independent Variable (include the unit) -

Dependent Variable (include the unit) -

Analysis (graph):

Time in trial 1 =
Time in trial 2 =
Time in trial 3 =
Average =

Conclusion: As the length of the string increased, the time taken for ten full swings
___________________ (increased/decreased/stayed the same).

My expectation was ___________________ (confirmed/disputed).

How do you think your results could be used to predict outcomes for the original problem? In
other words, if you actually had a crane with a wrecking ball, could you have followed a similar
procedure and found similar results? Leave your answer in complete sentences below.