Science Skills

Simple Pendulums – Investigate it!

A pendulum is a mass (which we call the pendulum’s ‘bob’) attached

to the end of a string that can swing freely, a bit like a child’s swing in a
park. Since Galileo in 1602, scientists have investigated pendulums. They
all needed to measure time, length and mass very carefully.

Exploring how pendulums move

You will need: two chairs, a wooden pole, string, scissors, a
paper cup, sticky tape, small marbles or coins, a tape measure,
a stopwatch
Set up your equipment as shown in the diagram. Explore how
the pendulum moves. Observe closely.

pole

string
chair chair

cup

marbles

1 Write a question you could investigate about pendulums.

2 List the variables you could change in your investigation.
3 What variables could you measure the effect upon?

8
 Exploring Science
Timing pendulums
David and Josh investigated
a simple pendulum.
They weighed some sticky
tac and attached this
to a meter-long string,
fixed to their desk with a
bulldog clip.
They used a stopwatch
to time how long it took
the pendulum to make
10 swings.
They increased the mass
of the sticky tac and Mass of pendulum Time taken to make
measured the time to bob (g) 10 swings (seconds)
swing 10 times again.
50 13.7
They increased the mass
of the sticky tac again and 100 13.9
measured the time again.
150 13.7
Here are their results:
200 13.6

4 David felt disappointed. He thought they had not found

anything out. Was he right? Explain your answer.
5 What variable had the children changed?
6 What variable did they measure the effect upon?
7 Write the question that this investigation tries to answer.
8 How could the children improve their investigation?
9 Do some research on pendulums. What forces move the bob
back to its original position each time it swings?