Pendulum Experiment Determining G

Aim: To calculate the acceleration due to gravity through the use of a pendulum
Hypothesis:
2

By using the formula T =

4 l
, varying the length and measuring the time
g

taken, a value for acceleration due to gravity can be found.

Equipment:

Metre ruler
String
100g mass
Retort Stand
Boss head and clamp
Counterweight

Risk Assessment
If the retort stand was unsecured and the experiment conducted, the retort stand
would have fallen over, potentially harming a student in its path. Thus, a
counterweight was put on the base of the stand to prevent it from tipping over.
Method:
1. The equipment was set up as shown in the diagram above
2. A 1m length of string was measured out with the ruler and markings were
put on the string every 10 cm from 20cm to 70cm of the string. The
markings were measured from the bottom of the hanging mass
3. The mass was pulled back and the time taken for 10 swings was
measured. The boss head was held tightly during this time to ensure the
minimum amount of energy lost
4. The string was pulled through the clamp 10 cm and the time taken for 10
swings was measured again
5. This was repeated with the length of the pendulum adjusted through
30cm, 40cm, 50cm, 60cm, 70 cm
6. The results were tabulated and the times were put through the equation
as stated in the hypothesis
7. T^2 was plotted against the length of the string and the gradient obtained
to find the value of

Results:

l
T2

and a value for gravity found.

Table 1
Length
(cm)

Time for 10
Swings (s)

T
(Perio
d)

T2

20

9.88

0.98

0.9604

30

40

12.91

1.29

1.6641

50

14.19

1.42

2.0164

60

15.45

1.55

2.4025

70

17.09

1.71

2.9241

Graph 1

Length against T2

f(x) = 4.12x

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Length (cm)

g=

4 l
=4 4.1187=9.59 m s2 ( 2d . p . )
2
T

0.6

0.7

0.8

Discussion:
Although the validity of the experiment can be argued, for the most part the
variables were controlled to provide a suitable measurement. Human error
includes parallax error and reaction time. As the reaction speed of humans is not
one hundred percent accurate, the time taken per oscillations is not the true
value. However, the error margin was reduced through taking the average of 10
swings. The reliability of the experiment can be improved through multiple
repetitions.
The pendulum lost time per swing due to air resistance. This can be fixed
through conducting the experiment in a vacuum chamber. Furthermore, the
equipment used was old and improperly optimised, resulting in shifts of
equipment during the swings. This can be overcome through the use of newer
equipment.
Our result of 9.59m/s2 was quite close to the expected value of gravity, 9.8m/s 2.
It only had a degree of error of

9.89.59
100=2 . Thus the accuracy of the
9.8

experiment can be commended, as the measured value was adequately close to

the true value.
Conclusion:
The aim of obtaining a value for gravity was achieved with minimal error of 2%.
The experiment was mostly valid but could be improved in many ways. Repetition
of the experiment is needed to confirm results.