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Analysis:: Justin Boling & Jacob Ortman Simple Pendulum & Hooke's Law November 24 Lab Group: Tuesday 2:30 - 4:25pm

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7 views

Analysis:: Justin Boling & Jacob Ortman Simple Pendulum & Hooke's Law November 24 Lab Group: Tuesday 2:30 - 4:25pm

Uploaded by

justinc2142
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Justin Boling & Jacob Ortman

Simple Pendulum & Hooke’s Law


November 24
Lab Group: Tuesday 2:30 – 4:25pm

Analysis:
Simple Pendulum

Adjusting the length of the pendulum caused the period to change in an exponential
fashion. This agrees with the function T = 2𝜋 √𝑙⁄𝑔 . However if both sides of the equation are
squared this should create a linear relationship. This also agrees as seen on the graph. Since
2 2
the squared equation: 𝑇 2 = (4𝜋 ⁄𝑔) 𝑙 is of the form y =ax+b. Where 𝑎 = 4𝜋 ⁄𝑔 and we have
a value of a from our graph, we can calculate gravity. Using this equation we found gravity to
be 9.77 m/s2 which is only a .39% error from the universally accepted 9.81 m/s2. Also using the
accepted value of gravity we can calculate the theoretical period of the pendulum. From our
experiment we found the period to be 1.996 seconds, and a theoretical value of 2.006. This is
also a small error of only .48%. Both of these errors can be caused by multiple things. The
most obvious would be human error as the measurements came down to the reaction time to
start and stop a stopwatch at a very precise moment. Another cause of error could be our
theoretical value of gravity. While it is universally accepted for measurements gravity does vary
slightly with elevation. These however both end up being very minute errors and can most
likely be ignored.

Hooke’s Law

Using Hooke’s law: F = -kx and known masses, the spring constant of our particular
spring was found to be 11.32. The spring was then put into simple harmonic motion with
different masses and the period was measured. The slope of the graph with period squared vs
𝑚
mass can be used to find the spring constant from the equation: 𝑇 2 = (4𝜋⁄𝑘 )(𝑚 + 𝑠⁄3).
Doing this we found the spring constant to be 8.127, which is a percent difference of 28.18%.
This difference can be explained multiple ways. Firstly the spring itself was in very bad shape
and misshapen which could cause it to act strangely under stress. Another factor is human
error, relying on human reactions speed to time the motion exactly is bound to cause at least
some minor error. Using a balance we measured the mass of the spring to be .161 kg making
our m/3 value to be .0538. Using the equation the measured m/3 value ended up being .0920
which is a percent difference of 71.05%. This error is most likely caused by the spring. Again
the springs used were in bad shape and definitely not uniform. One side of the spring was
vastly more stretched out than the other end. Using the equation and theoretical values the
period of the spring with 250g of mass should be 1.27s, compared to our 1.22s measured. This
is a difference of 3.81% and is most likely caused by human error.
Questions
Simple Pendulum
1. If the same pendulum was placed on the moon instead of the earth, the period would
increase.

2. If the temperature caused the pendulum rod to stretch on a clock it would increase the
period, thus slowing the clock down.

3. If the period was graphed against the square root of the length the relationship is
almost linear.

4. The mass of the ball has zero effect on the pendulum system, as long as it is the same
size the period would remain the same.

Hooke’s Law
1. The mass on the pendulum has the greatest acceleration at the max displacement
positions.

The mass has the least acceleration at the equilibrium point.

The mass as the largest force exerted at the max displacement positions.

The mass has the smallest force at the equilibrium point.

2. The mass is at max velocity crossing the equilibrium point.

The mass has minimum velocity at the maximum displacement positions.

3. If the mass was doubled the period would increase by a factor of sqrt(2)

4. If the spring constant was 4 times greater the frequency would be increased by a factor
of sqrt(4) and the period reduced by a factor of sqrt(4)

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