Sukkur IBA University
Applied Physics-II, Fall 2023
Lab Handout # 02:
Instructor:
Note: Submit this lab hand-out in the next lab with attached solved activities and
exercises
Submission Profile
Name: Submission date:11-11-2023
Enrollment ID: Comments:
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Instructor Signature
OBJECTIVE: To measure the acceleration due to gravity using a simple
pendulum
INTRODUCTION: Many things in nature wiggle in a periodic fashion. That is,
they vibrate. One such example is a simple pendulum. If we suspend a mass at the
end of a piece of string, we have a simple pendulum. Here, the to and fro motion
represents a periodic motion used in times past to control the motion of grandfather
and cuckoo clocks. Such oscillatory motion is called simple harmonic motion. It
was Galileo who first observed that the time a pendulum takes to swing back and
forth through small distances depends only on the length of the pendulum. The
time of this to and fro motion, called the period, does not depend on the mass of
the pendulum or on the size of the arc through which it swings. Another factor
involved in the period of motion is, the acceleration due to gravity (g), which on
the earth is 9.8 m/s2. It follows then that a long pendulum has a greater period
than a shorter pendulum.
With the assumption of small angles, the
frequency and period of the pendulum are
independent of the initial angular displacement
amplitude. All simple pendulums should have the
same period regardless of their initial angle (and
regardless of their masses).
The period T for a simple pendulum does not depend on
the mass or the initial angular displacement, but depends
only on the length L of the string and the value of the
gravitational field strength g, according to
τ =2 π
√ L
g
PROCEDURE: The period T of a simple pendulum (measured in seconds) is given
by the formula:
T =2 π
√ L (1)
g
time for 1 0 oscillations
T= (2)
1 0 oscillations
using equation (1) to solve for “g”, L is the length of the pendulum (measured in
meters) and g is the acceleration due to gravity (measured in meters/sec2). Now
with a bit of algebraic rearranging, we may solve Eq. (1) for the acceleration due to
gravity g.
(You should derive this result on your own).
g=4 π ² L/T 2
1. Measure the length of the pendulum to the middle of the pendulum bob.
Record the length of the pendulum in the table below.
2. With the help of a lab partner, set the pendulum in motion until it completes
30 to and fro oscillations, taking care to record this time. Then the period T
for one oscillation is just the number recorded divided by 30 using (eq. 2).
3. You will make a total of eight measurements for g using two different
masses at four different values for the length L.
Note: π = 3.14, 4 π² = 39.44
[Link]: L mass Time for 10 Period T T² g = 39.44L/T2
(meters) oscillations (seconds)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
QUESTIONS:
1. From your data what effect does changing the mass have on the period
(for a given value of the length L)?
2. What role, if any, does air resistance have in your results? Explain
your reasoning.
3. Would you conclude that Galileo was correct in his observation that
the period of a simple pendulum depends only on the length of the
pendulum?
4. On the moon, the acceleration due to gravity is one-sixth that of earth.
That is gmoon = gearth /6 = (9.8 m/s2)/6 = 1.63 m/s2.
i. What effect, if any, would this have on the period of a
pendulum of length L?
ii. How would the period of this pendulum differ from an
equivalent one on earth?
