Ugn Kupryt 2010-10-21

The Investigation of the Simple Pendulum

T = 2

L g

Where: T period of the pendulum L length of the pendulum g acceleration due to gravity This would mean that if the amplitude (initial displacement) is kept constant and comparatively small (so that small angle approximation holds) then the square length of the pendulum should be proportional to the period. Research question: How does the length of simple pendulum affect the period of pendulum? Hypothesis: The change in the length of simple pendulum will cause a significant change in the period of pendulum since the square of the period of pendulum is directly proportional to the length of pendulum. Manipulated Variable: Length of a thread The length of a thread on which the small metal ball hangs will always be measured with a meter ruler from the center of the ball and it will be reduced every 10 cm. In this way, the measurements will be done on the thread of the length 1 meter which will be shortened till the length of 10 cm. Responding Variable: Period of the pendulum The small metal ball will be launched to vibrate from the same initial displacement but at different composition. The length of thread on which the metal ball hangs will be shortened every 10 cm. Each time the ball will be launched by person who keeps the ball in one hand and a chronometer in another one. In this way, the time will be measured more precisely since the person can turn the clock on at the moment he launches the ball and turn the clock off when the pendulum makes 14 vibrations or 7 cycles of vibrations where the pendulum goes forth and back. Each release of the ball will be repeated for free times in order to collect data as accurately as possible.

Controlled Variables: Initial displacement of pendulum; Pendulum; Thread; Environmental Conditions Every time the small metal ball will be launched from a specific displacement which will be 10 away from its equilibrium position. Such amplitude is chosen in order to get the accurate results. Also, the same small metal ball will be used during the experiment as well as the same type of thread. This means that only the length of the thread will be changed but its thickness and the material from which it is made of will remain constant. Furthermore, the environmental conditions will be controlled by doing all trials in the class where there is the same air temperature and no wind that could affect the pendulum. Equipments: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The chronometer (Uncertainty: 0.2 s humans reaction time) Simple pendulum (a small metal ball on a thread) The meter ruler (Uncertainty: 1 cm ) Stand Protractor (Uncertainty: 2 )

Method: First of all, the pendulum will be tied to a stand and the length of the pendulum L was measured using the meter. The chosen length of pendulum equal to 1 m will be divided into 10 pieces, so the measurements will be done while the length varies from 1 m till 10 cm. Then, the pendulum will be displaced from the equilibrium position by a constant angle equal to 10 and it will be released. The time to swing 7 periods will be measured using the chronometer. The 7 periods were chosen to decrease relative time uncertainty. The experiment will be repeated with different L for 10 times and the metal ball will be launched 3 times when a pendulum consist the same length of thread in order to get the average time and make the experiment more precisely. Lastly, I will draw the graph of T 2 against L and answer my research question. The pictures below show the method used during the experiment, where L is the length of pendulum and A is equal to 10:

The small metal ball was launched to swing for 7 periods with the different values of length which varied from 1 m till 10 cm. The experiment was repeated 3 times at every value of length in order to find out the average time during which the ball overcomes 7 periods. The measurements are represented in a table below: Data of changes of length of pendulum and the period: Length (centimeters) 1 cm 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 1Time of 7 periods (seconds) 0.3s 13.9 13.1 12.5 11.6 10.7 9.8 8.8 7.9 6.4 4.6 2Time of 7 periods (seconds) 0.3s 13.8 13.3 12.7 11.7 10.4 9.6 8.7 7.5 6.3 4.6 3Time of 7 periods (seconds) 0.3s 13.9 13.0 12.3 11.9 10.9 9.3 8.8 7.7 6.5 4.7 Average of time 7 periods (seconds) 0.3s 13.9 13.1 12.5 11.7 10.6 9.6 8.8 7.7 6.4 4.6

Since I know the average time of 7 periods, I can find the time of one period and T 2 . The data is represented in a table below: Data of pendulum length and the time of periods: Time of one period ( seconds) 0.3s 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.9 0.6

Length (centimeters) 1 cm 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

T 2 (seconds) 0.1s
3.6 3.2 2.9 2.6 2.3 1.7 1.4 1.2 0.8 0.4

The black line is the trend-line from the experimental data with uncertainties of the period. It is clear that period is not directly proportional to length since the graph is not a line. From the graph we can see that some results were inaccurate. That may be because of the not well chosen uncertainties. Although, I added 1 cm for lenght of period (the meter rule was not precisly accurate and the center of the ball was hard to find) and 0.3s for the period of pendulum ( 0.2 s humans reaction time and I added 0.1 s since the ball was spinning when it was launched), it seems that the bigger uncertainties should have been chosen. That is because the points match the trend-line very well when the length of pendulum is quite big while the points don not match the trend-line very well when the length of pendulum is very small.

This graph shows the square of the period of pendulum versus the length and the error bars acquired by manipulating uncertainties (by multiplying by a factor of 2). The black line shows the best-fit line of the experimental data and the equation of the line is shown on the graph. So, from the graph we can see that not all the points match the line. This could be because of the systemic error that may be caused because of the air resistance. Also, this graph as well as the previous graph shows that uncertainties do not match the graph very well. This shows that the method of calculating the new error bar values is very approximate and should be avoided. Conclusion and Evaluation My research question was: How does the length of simple pendulum affect the period of pendulum? During the experiment I found out that when the length of pendulum is shortened, the time of one period rises. However, this not always holds true since my data collected showed that the period of pendulum is not directly proportional to the length of pendulum. In contrast, the square of pendulum is directly proportional to the length of pendulum. In brief, the experiment successfully proved the hypothesis and the data collected during the experiment was quite accurate. In addition, there were several random and systemic errors which have to be taken into consideration since they could have affected the outcome of my experimental. First of all, it was hard to measure the angle so that the metal ball could be displaced from the equilibrium position. Also, the period of pendulum with a small length should have been repeated for more times since it was hard to measure time when the pendulum overcomes 7 periods very quickly. Furthermore, the metal ball was spinning when it was launched and thus it increased the value of time of one period.

In order to do this experiment more precisely and to reduce systemic errors, it is necessary to change several things. Firstly, the method of calculating the uncertainty should be used without any short-cuts so as to represent the uncertainties more accurately. Secondly, the procedure of experiment should be changed a bit. The metal ball should be displaced from its equilibrium position with the help of a ruler instead of the help of a protractor. This means that the metal ball should be moved from its equilibrium position by several centimeters instead of moving it by 10. . Lastly, the time should be measured by using a camera. Films are composed of a lot of photos. When we are filming, camera is taking 24 photos per 1s. This quantity of photos per second is the limit when human being does not recognize separate views, but sees the film. So, if I filmed the experiment, I could collect the data of time extremely precisely, because the uncertainty would be only 1/24 s or 0.04 s that is 5 times more accurate than humans reaction time ( 0.2 s). In order to be more precise, the high def camera could be used in this experimental since its rate is 30 per second.