Name: Pendulum

Go to http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Pendulum_Lab
and click on Run Now.
1. Research to find equations that ould help !ou find " usin" a pendulum. #esi"n an e$periment
and test !our desi"n usin" %oon and &upiter. 'rite !our procedure in a para"raph that another
student could use to (erif! !our results. )ho !our data* "raphs* and calculations that support
!our strate"!.
The time it takes a pendulum to complete one back-and-forth swing, called the
pendulums period, depends only on the pendulums length and the value of gravity.
n an e!periment, an e!perimenter can easily manipulate a pendulums length. The
value of gravity cannot be manipulated. " simple pendulum consists of a particle of
mass m, attached to a frictionless pivot by a cable of length # and negligible mass.
$hen the particle is pulled away from its e%uilibrium position by an angle and
released, it swings back and forth. The period of an simple pendulum can be found
with the formula&
The e%uation for g written in terms of period T is where g is gravity, # is the length
of the pendulum, and T is the period of the pendulum:
n order to find g of a pendulum for the 'oon and (arth, you would first need to go
to http&))phet.colorado.edu)simulations)sims.php*sim+Pendulum,#ab. -lick Run
and keep the settings the same. .'ass+/kg, #ength 0m, No friction, Real Time1.
$e will begin with the 'oon. 2o at least /3 trials with varying lengths, but always
starting the pendulum at fifteen degrees. Record the #ength .#1 of the pendulum,
the time to complete a period .T1 in seconds, and T40 .5ust to make it easier to plug
into the e%uation later1 for each trial.
(ither take the average of the gravities found after plugging in # and T40 or you
can plot a line of best fit to determine the gravity of a planet)moon and get rid of
any outliers.
'oon:
+rial Len"th of the
Pendulum ,L-
+ime to
complete
period ,+-
+./ Gra(it! ,"-
/ 0.33 m 6.7/ s 89.9 /.66 m)sec0
0 /.83 m :.9; s <<.8 /.6: m)sec0
< /.0: m :.86 s 07.; /.66 m)sec0
8 /.70 m 6.99 s 8:.; /.66 m)sec0
: /.;< m 6.6/ s 8<.9 /.6: m)sec0
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6 /./8 m :.0< s 09.8 /.68 m)sec0
9 3.;< m 8.8: s /7.; /.66 m)sec0
; /.69 m 6.</ s <7.; /.66 m)sec0
7 /.<0 m :.6/ s </.: /.6: m)sec0
/3 /.:; m 6./8 s <9.9 /.6: m)sec0

"verage g+/.6:8
(arth:
+rial Len"th of the
Pendulum ,L-
+ime to
complete
period ,+-
+./ Gra(it! ,"-
/ 0.33 m 0.;: s ;./0 7.90 m)sec0
0 /.83 m 0.<; s :.66 7.99 m)sec0
< /.0: m 0.0: s :.36 7.9: m)sec0
8 /.70 m 0.97 s 9.9; 7.98 m)sec0
: /.;< m 0.9< s 9.8: 7.93 m)sec0
6 /./8 m 0./: s 8.60 7.98 m)sec0
9 3.;< m /.;8 s <.<7 7.69 m)sec0
; /.69 m 0.63 s 6.96 7.9: m)sec0
7 /.<0 m 0.<0 s :.<; 7.67 m)sec0
/3 /.:; m 0.:< s 6.83 7.9: m)sec0
"verage g+7.90;
/. 4se !our procedure to find " on Planet 5. )ho !our data* "raphs* and calculations that support
!our conclusion.
Planet =:
+rial Len"th of the
Pendulum ,L-
+ime to
complete
period ,+-
+./ Gra(it! ,"-
/ 0.33 m 0.<9 s :.60 /8./ m)sec0
0 /.83 m /.7; s <.70 /8./ m)sec0
< /.0: m /.;9 s <.:3 /8./ m)sec0
8 /.70 m 0.<0 s :.<; /8./ m)sec0
: /.;< m 0.09 s :./: /8.3 m)sec0
6 /./8 m /.97 s <.03 /8./ m)sec0
9 3.;< m /.:< s 0.<8 /8.3 m)sec0
; /.69 m 0./6 s 8.69 /8./ m)sec0
7 /.<0 m /.70 s <.67 /8./ m)sec0
/3 /.:; m 0.// s 8.8: /8.3 m)sec0
"verage g+/8.39
1. Gi(e !our conclusion and rite an error anal!sis.
conclude that due to the methods utili>ed to ascertain the g of the moon ./.6:1 and
earth .7.9<1, the g of Planet = would have to be /8./. There are a few areas that
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could have caused errors in the math. The rounding of the decimals could be less
than e!act. There could also be a lack of diversity in the length of the pendulum
numbers and the number of trials. ?owever, the whole numbers of each g average
should be fairly accurate.
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