Pendulum Lab

Eddy Kaleel, Randi Jannette, Katherine Yeacker

STEM Physics 5th hour
3/11/13

Problem:
We need to determine if and how mass, length, and angular displacement affect the period of a
simple pendulum and use the simple pendulum to determine the acceleration of gravity.
Materials:
Light string
Meter stick
Various masses
Stopwatch
Protractor
Writing utensils
Procedure:
Part1
1. Use a piece of string with a length of 0.60 meters to 1.20 meters, and tie a mass to this
string. Use the protractor to find 30degrees and pull the pendulum back to that point.
Record the time it takes for the pendulum to make 10 complete cycles. Divide the
time by 10 to get the period at which the pendulum travels.
2. Record this information in data table 1.
3. Repeat the procedure that is described in steps 1 and 2, with a different mass. Keep all
variables except the mass the same.
4. Repeat all steps with remaining masses.
Part 2
1. Find the period the pendulum moves at, while using a constant mass and amplitude in
each of the trials. Vary the pendulums length.
2. Record the data in data table 2.
3. Repeat the above steps with the remaining lengths.
Part 3
1. Use a constant length and mass, but vary the amplitude that pendulum swings from.
2. Find the period of the pendulum.
3. Record all data in data table 3.
4. Repeat the above steps for varying amplitudes.

Results:
Data Table 1:
period
mass
2.16
148
2.08
50
2.14
20
2.04
200
2.17
500

Period Versus Mass

y = 1214.4x - 2388.5
R = 0.1258

600

Mass (g)

500
400
300
200
100
0
2.02

2.04

2.06

2.08

2.1
Period (s)

Data Table 2:
period
length
2.08
0.99
2.02
0.98
1.9
0.87
1.85
0.83
1.8
0.76
1.83
0.77
1.71
0.68
1.76
0.73
1.55
0.59

2.12

2.14

2.16

2.18

Period Versus Length

y = 0.8226x - 0.7082
R = 0.9769

1.1

Length (m)

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Period (s)

Data Table 3:
period
amplitude
2.17
30
2.17
40
2.18
50
2.07
60
2.11
70

Period Versus Amplitude

y = -239.13x + 561.74
R = 0.5261

80

Amplitude (deg)

70
60
50
40
30
20
2.06

2.08

2.1

2.12

2.14

Period (s)

2.16

2.18

2.2

Conclusion:
Sources of error in this lab include placing the pendulum at an amplitude that is not correct,
measuring the length of string wrong, pressing the timer late or early, or holding the pendulum
different ways. The average g value for data table 1 was 1.446 m/s2. The average g value for data
table 2 was 1.486 m/s2. The average g value for data table 3 was 1.43 m/s2. The percent error of
data table 1 is 85.24%. The percent error of data table 2 is 84.84%. The percent error of data
table 3 is 85.41%.