LAB: factors that affect the period of a Pendulum (& Simple Harmonic Motion)
Materials
Calculator
Meter stick
Physics stand
1 stopwatch
Lab report with graph paper sheets attached
Bag containing: pendulum attachment block, blue screw knob, pendulum string with wooden fob, & 20 washers
Scale (as needed)
Experiment 1: What affect does mass have on period?
A) The length of string always 50 cm and amplitude is 30 degrees.Be careful to release the bob in a similar fashion each time.
B) In order to reduce error from the record keeper, for each number of washers you will record the time it took for the pendulum to make one complete cycle for two different trials. The average of Trial 1 & Trial 2 will be used as the “Period of the Pendulum”. Record these values in the data table.
C) Determine what correlation (or relationship) exists between the mass and the period, as well as the mass and the frequency.
Number of Washers / Mass of the pendulum & washers (grams) / Trial 1 (sec) / Trial 2 (sec) / Period of the Pendulum (sec.) / Frequency of the Pendulum (Hz)0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Experiment 2: What affect does length have on period of a pendulum?
A) Use 4 washers (the same 4 each time) and amplitude of 20 degrees for the experiment. Be careful to release the bob in a similar fashion each time.
B) Hang the string and bob at each length in the table and find the period.
C) In order to reduce error from the record keeper, for each string length you will record the time it took for the pendulum to make one complete cycle for two different trials. The average of Trial 1 & Trial 2 will be used as the “Period of the Pendulum”. Record these values in the data table.
D) Determine what relationship exists between the string length and the period as well as the frequency.
String Length (cm) / Trial 1 (sec) / Trial 2 (sec) / Period of the Pendulum (sec) / Frequency of the Pendulum (Hz)10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Experiment 3: What affect does amplitude have on period?
A) Use 4 washers (the same four each time) and 50 cm of string. Be careful to release the fob in a similar fashion for each trial.
B) Release the bob at each of the amplitudes and record the period.
C) In order to reduce error from the record keeper, for each amplitude you will record the time it took for the pendulum to make one complete cycle for two different trials. The average of Trial 1 & Trial 2 will be used as the “Period of the Pendulum”. Record these values in the data table.
D) Determine the relationship between the amplitude and the period as well as the frequency.
Amplitude (degrees) / Trial 1 (sec) / Trial 2 (sec) / Period of the Pendulum (sec.) / Frequency of the Pendulum (Hz)5
10
15
20
25
30
3. Analyzing the Data
A) Of the three things you can change (length, mass, and angle), which one had the biggest effect on the pendulum?
B) What relationships did you find (if any) between the independent variables of length, mass, and angle and the period of the pendulum? The frequency?
C) When you let go of the pendulum and let it swing freely without catching it, what eventually forced it to stop?
4) Graphing the Data