Experiment 2 24

Kuwait University Physics Department

Physics 105

Determination of Acceleration due to Gravity

Introduction
In this experiment the acceleration due to gravity (g ) is determined using two different
methods. In free fall method the kinematics of motion with constant acceleration is
used, whereas in the second method the simple harmonic motion phenomenon of a
simple pendulum is utilized to determine the value of (g ). You should be able to
verify at the end of this experiment that both methods show that the value of (g ) is
constant and equal within experimental error. Furthermore in the free fall method
you would investigate whether the mass of the falling body would affect the value of
(g ).

Objectives
• To understand the concept of acceleration in general and that due to gravity in
specific.

• To study the free fall motion and find the acceleration due to gravity from free
fall experiment.

• To find the acceleration due to gravity from the periodic motion of a simple
pendulum.

Equipment to be Used:
• Experimental setup for free fall (Figure 1)
Experiment 2 25

• Experimental setup for simple pendulum: 1 m stand, massless thread, a spher-

ical mass or bob (Figure 2)

• Measuring devices: metric Ruler, Free Fall Timer, Electronic Stopwatch.

Theory
Part A. Determination of (g ) using Free Fall

A freely falling body is an object that is moving under the influence of gravity only.
This object has a downward acceleration, denoted by (g), toward the center of earth.
In order to calculate the value of the gravitational acceleration, you will use the free
fall experimental setup illustrated in Figure 1. The steel ball is fixed to the releasing
mechanism of the free fall apparatus. Allowing the ball to fall a fixed distance h
toward the Receptor Plate, the free fall timer will compute the time elapsed for the
ball to fall that distance.

Figure 1 Free Falling Apparatus

Experiment 2 26

The position of the steel ball, starting from rest at time t = 0 and undergoing constant
downward acceleration along the y-direction, can be understood using the following
equation
1
y(t) − yo = − g t2 , (1)
2
where yo is the initial position and g is the acceleration due to gravity. If h is the
falling distance the body has traveled from its starting point during time t, then above
equation can be written as
1 2
h= gt. (2)
2
Therefore, to calculate the value of g, you should study the relation between the
falling distance h and t2. Some further analysis will be carried out to check whether
acceleration due to gravity is constant or not.

Part B. Determination of (g) using Simple Pendu-

lum
The simple pendulum consists of a small bob (in theory a particle) of mass m sus-
pended by a light inextensible thread of length l from some point about which it is
allowed to swing back and forth. See Figure 2. The forces on the bob are the tension
in the thread T and the weight mg of the bob acting vertically downwards (as shown
in Figure 2). Resolving mg radially and tangentially at point A we see that the tan-
gential component is the unbalanced restoring force acting towards the equilibrium
position O.
Experiment 2 27

Figure 2. Simple Pendulum

If a represents the acceleration of the bob along the arc at point A due to the
presence of force (mgsin θ) then the equation of motion of the bob is represented by

− mg sin θ = m a, (3)

The negative sign indicates that the force is towards point O (restoring force) while
the displacement x is measured along the arc from O in the opposite direction. When
θ is small, then we can consider sin θ ≃ θ in radians and x = l θ. Hence
x
− mg θ = − mg = m a,
l
g
a = − x = − ω2 x. (4)
l

g
Where ω 2 = l . The motion of the bob is thus a simple harmonic motion since the
acceleration of the bob is directly proportional to its distance from the equilibrium
point O and is always directed towards that point. Here ω is a constant representing
Experiment 2 28

the angular frequency of the motion in radian per second and so the period T is
constant and given by

2π l

T = = 2π  . (5)
ω g

T is therefore independent of the amplitude of the oscillation and at a given place

on the earth’s surface where g is constant; it depends only on the length l of the
pendulum.

Procedure
A. Free Fall

1) Set up the free fall timer as shown in Figure 1. Use the first steel ball.

2) Set the height h to 40 cm. Press the reset button on the timer, and then loosen
the thumbscrew so that the ball drops and falls on the receptor plate. Record
the time of fall t in Table 1. Repeat the measurement two times and calculate
the average time of fall.

3) Increase the height h by about 15 cm and repeat the measurements made in

the previous step until the height increases to approximately 115 cm.

4) Calculate the value of g for each height and record it in the appropriate
column of your data table.

5) Calculate the average value ḡ and the standard error σḡ .

6) Plot the graph of height h versus t2 and determine the acceleration due to
gravity from the slope.

7) Repeat steps 1 through 6 for a different steel ball and record your data in Table
2.
Experiment 2 29

Table 1. Free Fall of steel ball 1

h t1 t2 t3 t̄ (t̄)2 g
(m) (s) (s) (s) (s) (s2 ) (m/s2 )

ḡ ± σḡ = ..............................................

Table 2. Free Fall of steel ball 2

h t1 t2 t3 t̄ (t̄)2 g
(m) (s) (s) (s) (s) (s2 ) (m/s2 )

ḡ ± σḡ = ..............................................
Experiment 2 30

B. Simple Pendulum

1) Set up the pendulum as in the Figure 2, and adjust the length l to about
50 cm. The length of the simple pendulum is the distance from the point of
suspension to the center of the ball.

2) Displace the bob from its equilibrium position by a small angle and then release
the bob to swing back and forth.

3) Measure the total time it takes to make 10 oscillations. Record your data in
Table 3. (If the swing becomes elliptical you must repeat the swinging again
to be in a vertical plane.)

4) Calculate the period T and the periods squared T 2 and record them in Table
3.

5) Increase the length of the pendulum by about 15 cm, and repeat the measure-
ments made in the previous steps until the length increases to 125 cm.

6) Calculate the value of g for each length and record it in the appropriate
column of your data table.

7) Calculate the average value ḡ and the standard error σḡ .

8) Plot a graph of length l versus T 2 and determine the value of g from the
slope.
Experiment 2 31

Table 3. Simple Pendulum

l T10 T T2 g
(m) (s) (s) (s2 ) (m/s2 )

ḡ ± σḡ = ..............................................