Title: Physical Pendulum – Wooden Pendulum

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the mass moment of inertia at the centre of gravity,
IG and at the suspension points, IO1 and IO2 by means oscillation. The finding differs between the
values of IO and IG obtained from the experiment and from the theoretical value. The potential
factors that caused the difference in values are further discussed. The finding was that the
wooden pendulum oscillates in non-uniform motion especially when it was suspended at
IO2.Based on the result, it can be concluded that the value of IG and IO from both suspension
points were different although they share the same value of mass. The period was also different
for both setting points. After the data was taken, the period of oscillation, T1 and T2 were
obtained from the two different suspension points. Hence, only after obtaining the value for T
value, the value of IG and IO can be calculated. The errors that occurred might be due to the
disturbance caused by surrounding and human error. The time for 10 oscillations was taken
manually by using stopwatch. By the end of this experiment, the values of IG and IO were able to
be calculated using formulaand were compared with the theoretical value.

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List of Figures

No Figure Page

1 Figure 1: Wooden pendulum

2 Figure 2: Stopwatch

3 Figure 3: Vee slot

4 Figure 4: Pendulum support

5 Figure 5: Ruler

6 Figure 6: The student took the reading

7 Figure 7: The student hanged the wooden pendulum

8 Figure 8: The student placed the initial position at 10 degrees

9 Figure 9: The student repeats the procedure with the opposite angle

10 Figure 12: Dimensions of Wooden Pendulum

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List of table and graph

No Table Page

1 Table 10: Time Taken at Vee Support

2 Table 11: Time Taken at Rod Support

3 Table 12: Table below shows the final result and the percentage of
error.

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Objective

1. To determine the mass moment of inertia (at centre of gravity, IG and at suspension point,
IG) by oscillation.
2. To help the student in term of understanding the Dynamic syllabus.

Introduction

A weight suspended from a pivot and swings freely is called pendulum. When a pendulum is
displaced sideways from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force caused
by gravity that will cause it to accelerate back towards the equilibrium position. When released,
the restoring force combined with the mass of the pendulum will cause it to oscillate about the
equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time taken for one complete cycle which
consist of left swing and right swing is called the period. The period depends on the length of the
pendulum apart from the amplitude of oscillation. However, if the amplitude is small, the period
is almost independent of the amplitude. A pendulum which consists of any swinging rigid body,
rotating freely about the fixed axis is known as compound pendulum or physical pendulum. For
these pendulums the appropriate equivalent length is the distance from the pivot point to a point
in the pendulum called the center of oscillation. This is located under the center of mass, at a
distance from the pivot called the radius of gyration, which is dependent on the mass distribution
along the pendulum. However, for any pendulum in which most of the mass is concentrated on
the bob, the center of oscillation is close to the center of the mass. It was proven that the pivot
point and the center of oscillation are interchangeable. It means that if any pendulum is turned
upside down and swung from a pivot located at its previous center of oscillation, it will have the
same period as before and the new center of oscillation will be at the old pivot point.

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Theory

The simple pendulum is an example of mathematical model due to weight at one end of any
supports which hanged at a pivot (fixed) point. It will exhibits a swing of backward and forward
with constant amplitude due to the gravitational force as it gives an initial release at 10o freedom
(angle of displacement). The amplitude of swings would tend to declines compared with the real
pendulum which is mainly subject to friction and surrounding ambient

On this experiment we had used a wooden pendulum as rigid body suspended from some point
which is it was acted as a physical pendulum which is located on its centre of mass.it is a simply
rigid object which is swings freely above some pivot point. The physical pendulum may be
compare with a simple pendulum, which is consists of a small mass suspended by a string. For
this situation the pendulum is stick with a pivot at a fixed point at the centre of mass. Via this
experiment, an equation of motion was developed in order to find the mass moment of inertia
whether at centre of gravity, IG or at suspension point, IO by oscillation with the deflection angle
of 10o

Ax
IA
Free Body Diagram
G of Wood
800mm Free Body Diagram of Wood Pendulum

For small displacement, the period of T of a physical pendulum is independent of its

amplitude which is

T =2 π w

W is represent as a harmonic oscillator

I rotation axis, m is the total mass of the

Where I is the rotational inertia of the pendulum
Wabout √
= mgrits
pendulum, g is the acceleration of gravity and r is the distance from the rotation.

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 I1 = 1/12 m1L12 + m1d12 I2 = 1/4 m2r22 + m2d22 I3= 1/12 m3l32 +m3d32

 m = mass of the body (Kg)

 L = length of the composite body (m)
 d = distance from x axis to the centroid location (m)
 I = mass moment of inertia (kg.m2)

The formula used for the calculation of mass moment of inertia (experimental)

To determine L

L
T =2
√ g

To find RG

x ( L2−x )
RG =
L1 + L2−2 x

To calculate Io

I O = I G + mL 2

To find IG1

L1=I G1−m ¿ ¿

To find the value

 ofT =IG2Time taken to complete one oscillation (period), t (sec)
 L = Length, l (m)
 L2=I G 2 +m¿(ms
g = Gravitational acceleration ¿ -2)
 RG = Distance from suspension point to centre of gravity (m)
 X = Fix length, 0.7m 6
 Io = Moment of inertia about point O at suspension point 1 & 2
 IG = Moment of inertia about the centre of gravity (kg.m2)
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Tool and apparatus

No Figure Name
1 Wooden Pendulum

Figure 1

2 Stopwatch

Figure 2

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3 Vee slot

Figure 3

4 Pendulum support

Figure 4

5 Ruler

Figure 5

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Procedure

1. Dimensions of the wooden pendulum were taken using a ruler

Figure 6: The student took the reading

2. The wooden pendulum was hanged on one end to the Vee slot.

Figure 7: The student hanged the wooden pendulum

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3. The wooden pendulum was then displaced to a 15 degrees angle to the right from its
initial position.

Figure 8: The student placed the initial position at 10 degrees

4. The wooden pendulum was then released to let it oscillate due to gravitational force.
Using a stopwatch, the periodic time of 10 oscillations were recorded.
5. The average of the three periods was calculated for each suspension point.

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6. The procedure was repeated again by displaced that angle to the left.

Figure 9: The student repeats the procedure with the opposite angle

7. Then the Vee slot was change to the rod support and tested with same step. All the results
were recorded in a table.
8. Equations from Mathematical and Physical Pendulum were used to determine the mass
moment of inertia (IG1 and IG2).

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Result

Point O1 L=800 mm
I=720 mm

Table 10: Time Taken at Vee Support

Part Angle (ø) Oscillation Time (s)

1 Right

14.28
15 10
2 Left

14.30

Point O2 L=800 mm
I =744 mm

Table 11: Time Taken at Rod Support

Part Angle (ø) Oscillation Time (s)

1 Right

14.75
15 10
2 Left

14.63

Mass = 600 g

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Density = Mass / Volume
= (600 x 10-3) kg / (5.274 x 10-4) m3
= 1137.656 kg / m3

80 mm

40 mm 9 mm (thick)

24 mm 79 mm (width)

720 mm

I
800 mm
II
450 mm
III

53 mm

11 mm

Figure 12: Dimensions of Wooden Pendulum

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 Table 12: Table below shows the final result and the percentage of error.

Point Mass Moment Theoretical Experimental Percentage

of Inertia, I Value (kgm3) Value (kgm3) Error (%)

O1 IG 0.033 0.032 1.81

IO 0.278 0.108 61.2

O2 IG 0.033 0.039 15.38

IO 0.268 0.115 57.09

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