Pendulum Experiment

Aim: To find the mathematical relation between the length B and the time period of
pendulum.

Dependent Variable: The period of pendulum.

Independent Variable: Length of the string and mass of object is kept constant.

Apparatus:

 String
 Lemon(mass of object)
 Door frame
 Sticky tape
 Stick
 Stop watch

Method:

1) Firstly tape the lemon used as mass of object to one end of long string.
2) Tape the other end of the string to the door frame.
3) Measure the length of the string (L) from the middle of mass to the point of
suspension.
4) Now tape the stick across the door frame at distance of 0.50m from the middle of
pendulum mass (distance will vary for each length (B)).
5) Release the object from the premeasured height, lining up the end of the string with
the approximate line of height, trying to allow the object to go as close to
perpendicular to the door frame as possible.
6) After the object returns to the starting position three times, take a “lap” on the
stopwatch.
7) Repeat step 5 two more times for the second 3 oscillations and the third 3
oscillations
8) Record all data into data table.
9) Repeat steps 5-8 with different B and L.

Data Collection:

Trial Length of String (centimeters) Time (seconds)

1 17 .81
2 30 1.06
3 37 1.15
4 60 1.53
Data Processing & Discussion:

The following graph shows how the length of the string (the independent variable) affects
the time (the dependent variable).

Time vs. Length

1.8
1.6
1.4 f(x) = 0.19 x^0.5
1.2 R² = 0.99 Time
1
Time (s)

___ Power (Time)

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Length of String (cm)

Equation: Time = 0.1943(Length)0.4997

Explanation of equation: Time is the dependent variable measured in seconds. The square
root (approximately – 0.4997  0.5) of length, the independent variable, is measured in
centimetres. To make the present units (seconds equals the square root of centimetres)
work out and recognizing that gravity acts as part of the model, the equation must include
gravity [meters/(seconds)2] in the radicand and should be divided into length for meters-
centimetres to cancel and seconds squared to move to the numerator. The constant of
proportion between length and time in the equation is 0.1943, which is similar to
2/980 (.2007), the value of a full cycle of the pendulum divided by gravity in centimetres
per second squared. Therefore, the equation of the trend line is T = 2(L/g).5, the classic
model.

Factors affecting data:

 A random error was the way that the bob was timed. Human eyes are not
particularly strong, and it is often quite difficult to judge the exact moment when the
bob was at its maximum.
 Inaccurate measurement of drop height, but primarily spin and pitch of the bob.
Although it was not well explored, it is possible that the variation in heights caused
to some extent the error. More likely, a clear problem was in how the pendulum
swung. As it moved through the air, It was noticed how it often rotated along the
axis perpendicular to the bob, which may have resulted in the action robbing the
object of some of its momentum, and thus some of its energy. This would have
 caused the bob to have a slower stopping time than what would have been
expected.

There are actually two simple methods that would fix quite a bit with this lab. The easiest
way would be to change the time at which the timer was stopped. Another, slightly more
complex, method to fix this would be to limit the pendulum to two dimensions of
movement, through setting up barriers to prevent the bob from swinging out too much.
Although the restrictions themselves are prone to causing errors if the bob bumps into
them, the increased accuracy of path may result in a better experiment. Finally, an even
better measurement of the time would be to place a photo gate across the low point of the
pendulum, right in the centre. Then, the photo gate would record each time the pendulum
passes through that point, giving a very accurate period. This would have been very difficult
to implement by itself, as you would have the issue of the bob accidentally hitting the photo
gate and knocking it off somehow, but if implemented together with the restricting to one
plane idea, it is likely that this would have greatly improved accuracy in our experiment.

Conclusion

In a nutshell the only factor affecting the time of the swing of a pendulum was the length of
the string .The time increased as the length of the string increased and the lemon oscillates
below the stick. The graph shows how the length of the string (the independent variable)
affects the time (the dependent variable). Power model was chosen as the best fit to the
data.