UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS 1– ELEC 1107(1)

Experiment 1: Energy in a Pendulum

Aims
To prove the theory for energy in a pendulum.

Experimental Setup

Figure 1

 Set the pendulum length (l) to 360 mm.

 The mass (m) of the pendulum bob is 60 g.
 The horizontal distance (d) of swing is from one side of the panel to the other
(320 mm).
 Push the pendulum so its centre aligns with the left or right hand edge of the
Work Panel. Use trigonometry or an accurate protractor to measure the
swing angle a. Measure the difference in height (h) from the bottom of the
pendulum swing to the top.
 Release the pendulum and allow it to swing freely. It should just swing clear
of the supports.
 Use the stopwatch to measure how many seconds it takes to complete 50
swings (from one side to the other and back).
 Repeat for different lengths listed in the table and record your results in the
table.
Questions and Conclusions
1. Compare the angle based velocity with the straight line velocity. What do you notice
about their difference as the pendulum gets shorter?
2. How would you change the pendulum to give higher PE and KE values?