(ii) ( x , y )=(l sin , l cos ) .

. *he +agrangian is thus 1 2+ y 2) mgl ( 1cos ) (iii) L= m ( x Newton's law of gravitation describing the 2 gravitational force between two objects is given in , where the potential is chosen to be /ero at the any introductory physics textbook as pendulu%'s e&uilibriu% position ( = ! ). *aking m1 m2 the ti%e derivative of (ii), substituting into (iii), and (i) F =G 2 si%plifying yields r 1 2 2 (iv) L= m ( l ) mgl ( 1 cos ) . 11 " 1 2 2 , where G 6.6 1! m kg s is the universal gravitational constant. #ere on $arth, one is %ost often concerned with the gravitational *he $uler-+agrange e&uation of %otion attraction of a body to $arth itself, and e&uation (i) dL = d dL (v) d dt d can be cast into the %ore convenient for% (vi) F = m2 g , where m2 is the %ass of the body, and beco%es g sin = l upon canceling the %ass and length ter%s co%%on G m earth , with r being the radius fro% the g= to both sides after differentiation in (v). r2 *he second order 01$ in (vi) has no si%ple center of the earth to the body of interest. solution in ter%s of ele%entary functions. #owever Nu%erous experi%ents can be conducted to if the s%all angle approxi%ation sin is deter%ine the value of g, with %any being %ade, (vi) is readily solved to obtain extre%ely si%ple to i%ple%ent. 'n this experi%ent, g g g was deter%ined by %easuring the period T of a (vii) ( t )= c1 cos ( t )+ c 2 sin ( t) . l l pendulu% of length l, and using the relationship *he initial condition (! )= ! i%plies c 1 =! , l (derived below) T = 2 . g g leaving ( t )= c 2 sin ( (viii) t) . l .ro% the above e&uation, the angular fre&uency THEORY *he physics of a si%ple pendulu% are best g described using +agrangian %echanics. ,onsider a = 2 f is seen to be = l = 2 T , (ix) pendulu% of length l, with bob %ass m, at so%e 1 where T = is the period of the pendulu%. angle with the y-axis as shown in figure 1. f l 2olving for T gives T = 2 . (x) g *hus g can be deter%ined by %easuring the period of a si%ple pendulu% of known length, and solving 2 e&uation (x). 3 plot of l vs. T should yield a 2 4 linear relationship with slope . g EXPERIMENT *he experi%ent was very si%ple to i%ple%ent. 3 2!g %ass was weighed out on a digital scale " ti%es, and the average %ass m was .or si%plicity, assu%e the string is %assless, and calculated. *he %ass was secured by thread to the let the pivot of the pendulu% be frictionless. 'n 5rod portion6 of a desk la%p , which was orientated cartesian coordinates, si%ple trigono%etry shows parallel to the ground. *he rod was verified to be the location of the bob is level using a calibrated %obile phone level INTRODUCTION

application (57ubble6 for 3ndroid 4.4.2.) *he 1! :ediu% 1" average length l of the thread was calculated fro% 1! :ediu% 12.9 three %eter-stick %easure%ents of the thread, %easured fro% the botto% of the rod to the top of 1! :ediu% 1" the bob. *he pendulu% was released fro% " 1! :ediu% 1" various initial angular a%plitudes (5s%all6, 5%ediu%6, and 5large6). *hese initial a%plitudes Trial (: l = "!.6 .1 cm , m = 2!.! .!2 gra%s were &ualitative esti%ates, rather than precise # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& %easure%ents due to ti%e constraints. *he ti%e for A!"li #$e 1! oscillations was %easured with a digital stopwatch, although early trials %easured the ti%e 1! +arge 11.9 for 2! cycles. (2! cycle trials were abandoned in 1! +arge 11.; favor of 1! cycle trials, as the for%er resulted in %ore %otion out of the plane towards the end of the 1! +arge 12.2 %easure%ent interval.) *rials were repeated at 1! :ediu% 11.4 various lengths ranging fro% 16.8 c% to "9. c%. 1! :ediu% 11.8 *he data obtained is tabulated below. 1! :ediu% 11.8 DATA/RESULTS 1! 2%all 11.4 Trial 1: l = "4.6 .1 cm , m = 2!.! .!2 gra%s. 1! 2%all 11.4 # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& A!"li #$e 1! 2%all 11." 2! 2! 2! 2! 2! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge +arge 24.9 28.4 28.4 28.2 28.2 12.8 12." 12.4 12. 12. Trial ): l = 24." .1 cm , m= 2!.! .!2 gra%s # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& A!"li #$e 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! +arge +arge +arge :ediu% :ediu% :ediu% 2%all 2%all 2%all 1!.4 1!.8 1!.6 1!." 1!." 1!." 1!.2 1!.1 1!.1

Trial ': l = "9. .1 cm , m = 2!.! .!2 g # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& A!"li #$e 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! +arge +arge +arge :ediu% :ediu% 1".4 1".2 1".1 12.9 1".2

Trial *: l = 16.4 .1 cm , m = 2!.! .!2 gra%s # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& A!"li #$e 1! 1! 1! +arge +arge +arge ;. ;. ;.

1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1!

:ediu% :ediu% :ediu% 2%all 2%all 2%all

;.8 ;.8 ;.6 ;.4 ;.4 ;.4

", 4,8, , and ;) and plotting the pendulu% length vs 2 T is shown in figure 2. (3s %entioned earlier, the 2! cycle %easure%ents of trial 1 were abandoned as the bob tended to leave the plane %ore significantly as the nu%ber of cycles increased. *rial 6 was abandoned due to a broken string.)

Trial +: l = "9.! .1 cm , m = 2!.! .!2 gra%s # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& A!"li #$e 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! +arge +arge +arge :ediu% :ediu% :ediu% 12. 12.6 12.6 12. 12.; 12.4

.igure 2 shows the attain%ent of the linear relationship predicted by e&uation (x). *he slope of 1! 2%all 12.; the best fit line as deter%ined by linear regression 2 was found to be 4.!1 s / m , within 1< of the 1! 2%all 12.8 2 theoretical predicted slope of 4.!2 s / m using a 1! 2%all 12.6 2 value of g = 9.;1 m / s . *he slope obtained above gives a gravitational acceleration of Trial ,: %Hea-y !ass rial. l c/!"ara0le / rial 2 g = 9.;8 m / s . *he values obtained for g as a '& l = "9.; .1 cm , m = 2!!.1.!2 gra%s. function of the initial angular a%plitude are # Cycles Ini ial Ti!e %s& tabulated below in table 1. A!"li #$e Ta0le 1: 1! +arge 1" Ini ial Sl/"e Calc#la e$ 3 a4ay An1#lar O0 aine$ 1 -al#e 5r/! 1! +arge 12.9 A!"li #$e 0y Linear %!/s2'& 1 678,1 1! +arge 1".1 Re1ressi/n !/s2' 1! :ediu% 1" %s2'/!& 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! :ediu% :ediu% 2%all 2%all 2%all 12.; 12.; 1".1 1".1 12. :ediu% +arge ".99 ".91 9.;9 1!.11 !.;2< ".!"< 2%all 4.12 9.8 2."9<

3s expected, the largest initial a%plitude trials deviated the %ost fro% theoretical predictions, as ANALYSIS the s%all angle approxi%ation beco%es less *he plot obtained after averaging the three accurate at larger angles. *he s%allest angle trials runs at each initial a%plitude (s%all,%ediu%, and did not yield the closest agree%ent with theory large) for each of the 1!-oscillation trials (trials 2, however. 3n explanation %ight be that %ore

syste%ic error is introduced at the lower pendulu% i%ple%entation did not %odel a true 5ideal6 si%ple speeds inherent to s%all a%plitude trials. (=erhaps pendulu%. *he bob faced wind resistance, the pivot da%pening beco%es %ore significant at these low was not frictionless, and although the %ass of the speeds, or the pendulu% exits the plane sooner at string was negligible, it was not !. .urther, the these speeds.) 'nsight on the accuracy of the s%all string was not perfectly taut. *hese co%plications angle approxi%ation can be gathered fro% figure ". surely contributed to the 6.4< deviation fro% the accepted value of g. CONCLUSION 't has been shown how a si%ple pendulu% could be used to deter%ine g. *he gravitational acceleration due to $arth's %ass was deter%ined to 2 be g = 9.1; .;2 m / s , with a standard deviation 2 of = ."6 m / s . +inear regression gave the %ore 2 accurate result g = 9.;8 .;2 m / s . *he %ass independence of e&uation was confir%ed by trials 2 and ;, which were conducted at si%ilar pendulu% lengths ("9. c% for trial 2 vs "9.; c% for trial ;), but drastically different pendulu% %asses (2! g for trial 2 vs 2!!g for trial ;.) *he trials differed in their predicted g values by 2.24<, a typical deviation fro% other 2!g trials, despite the 1!x increase in %ass. 3t typical di%ensions (for exa%ple, using trial "'s di%ension s l = "!.6 c% , with a single period T>1! ? 1.16 seconds), *he .1 cm uncertainty in the pendulu% length only 2 contributed .!2 m / s to the uncertainty in g. 3t these sa%e di%ensions, the half-second uncertainty over the ti%e interval of 1! oscillations ( so t =.!8 s over a single period) contributed 2 . ; m / s to the uncertainty in g. *hus the reported error in g was al%ost entirely due to the uncertainty in the ti%e %easure%ent. *he average value of g over all 1! period 2 trials was deter%ined to be 9.1; .;2 m / s , with 2 a standard deviation = ."6 m / s . *his a%ounted to a 6.4< deviation fro% the accepted value of g ? 9.;1 %>s@2. (3lthough g varies fro% approxi%ately 9. ; %>s@2 to 9.;" %> s@2 depending on where exactly one is on $arth1.) *he accepted value of g was within the error bars reported. 't %ust be stressed that the experi%ental
1Hirt,Claessens et. al. (Aug 6, 2013). "New ultra-high resolution picture o
!arth"s gra#it$ iel%". Geophysical Research Letters DOI: 10.1002/grl.50838.