VALUE OFACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY USING BAR PENDULUM 1

Calculating the value of Acceleration due

to gravity using compound pendulum

Submitted by: Mohid Khan Tariq.

Registration Number: 2019256

Section: C

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, Topi

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Abstract: This experiment was performed in the physics lab at GIKI, topi on 5thDecember

2019.The findings of this experiment can be considered relatively successful as the value for

gravitational acceleration came at an error of only 1.14%.The procedure followed involved

recording multiple values of oscillations at different distances from the centre of gravity and

plotting a graph of mentioned quantities, then using a known formula of gravitational

acceleration to compute the actual value.

What a compound pendulum is:

A compound pendulum has a mass, and it’s free to oscillate (rotate) about a horizontal axis. This is

also called physical pendulum because it exists in daily life as opposed to the theoretical ideal. The

length L for calculating the time period of such pendulums is the distance from the pivot to the point

of oscillations. This point lies exactly below the center of mass and the distance from the point to

pivot is called the radius of oscillations ( R ). This radius depends on mass distribution of the system.

If most of the mass is concentrated in a small area compared to the length of the pendulum, the

density of that area obviously increases and hence, the center of oscillation gets closer to the center of

mass.

A Bar Pendulum hanging at

rest
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Further relation between gravity and Compound Pendulum

Pendulum is a body of any size, design or shape free to turn about an axis. The body
oscillates about a hole and time period from one end of the corresponding hole from the other
end remains the same.

A simple pendulum theoretically has the mass of the bob concentrated at one point, but this is
impossible to achieve exactly in practice. Most pendulums are compound, with an oscillating
mass spread out over a definite volume of space.

Let G be the centre of gravity of a compound pendulum of mass m that oscillates about a
point O with OG = h If the pendulum is moved so that the line OG is displaced through an
angle θ (Figure 1), the restoring couple is:

- mghsinƟ = - mghƟ = if Ɵ is small.

Therefore:
Iα= - mghƟ

α=-mgƟh/I

Since the angular acceleration is directly proportional to the angular displacement the motion
is simple harmonic of period T where:

Period of a compound pendulum (T) = 2π(I/mgh)1/2

But I is the moment of inertia about an axis through 0, and therefore

I = IG + mh2 = mk2 + mh2
where k is the radius of gyration about a parallel axis through G.
The period can therefore be written as:

Period of a compound pendulum (T) = 2π([k2 + h2]/gh)1/2

If a uniform rod is used as a compound pendulum and the period of oscillation T measured for
different values of h on either side of the centre of gravity then a graph like the one in Figure 2 may
be obtained.
Since the formula for a simple pendulum is T = 2π(L/g)1/2 we can define a quantity L called the length
of the simple equivalent pendulum.
This is given by L = [k2 + h2]/h
For two distances h1 and h2 on either side of the centre,

L = h1 + h2 (as can be seen from the graph in figure 2) and h1h2 = k2.

At the minimum h1 = h2 and h = k.

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𝑳
𝑻 = 𝟐𝝅√
𝒈

By squaring both sides, we get:

𝑻𝟐 𝑳
𝟐
=
𝟒𝝅 𝒈

By algebraic manipulation we get the following equation for the value of g which tells us that

an experiment can be performed to determine

4π2 L
g= 𝟐
𝐓

AIM: An experiment to find the acceleration due to gravity using a bar pendulum.

Apparatus:

 Bar pendulum (with 19 holes)

 Knife edge

 Stopwatch

 Metre Rule

 Rigid support

Procedure

1. Centre of mass will be 10th hole because there are 19 holes.

2. Label one of the sides ‘side A’ and the other side ‘side B’.

3. Screw the knife edge into the 9thhole from the centre of mass(either from either side A

or side B).

4. Place the knife edge on a hard support.

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5. The bar must be suspended vertically in rest position so that the end on rigid support

is exactly vertically above free end.

6. Hold one end of the rod and release it from no more than 5-20 degrees from mean

positon

7. Note time for 10 oscillations as T1

8. Repeat steps 4-6 and record the time for oscillations as T2 this time

9. Repeat steps 4-8 moving a hole closer to the centre of mass with each subsequent step

until the last hole before the centre of mass is reached.

10. Invert the Bar pendulum and repeat steps 3-9 recording all values as necessary (in a

tabular form) Record the values of D with a negative sign to make sure all readings

come on same graph

11. Using a metre rule record distances from centre of mass of each hole.

12. Make a table of Number of holes from centre of mass(N), Distance from centre of

mass(D), T1, T2, Average T (which is actually the average of T1 and T2) and Time

Period(T) which is Average T divided by 10.

13. Plot a graph of D against T.

14. Find Lengths h1 and h2 from graph their sum gives L.

15. Put values in formula to calculate the value of g.

16. Calculate percentage error in value of g obtained from original / defined value of g.
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Using values of h1 and h2 from graph

We get

L=h1+h2=0.21m+0.38m=0.59m

This value of L occurs at T=1.55s

Putting these values into the formula

g=(𝟒𝝅𝟐 ∗ 𝑳)/𝑻𝟐

g=(4𝝅𝟐 ∗ 𝟎. 𝟓𝟗𝒎)/𝟏. 𝟓𝟓𝒔𝟐

g=9.695m𝒔−𝟐

Error calculation

9.807 − 9.695
∗ 100 = 1.14%
9.807
Precautions and preventive measures

 The Knife edge should always face the centre of gravity and should be correctly placed in the

groove of rigid support

 Amplitude of oscillations should be reasonably small. (The pendulum should not be moved

more than 5-15 degrees from mean position)

 Oscillations should be timed as accurately as possible (Use of fiducial markers is advised)

References

1. Practical physics: R.K. Shukla, Anchal Srivatsava, New Age International (P) Ltd, New Delhi

2. Fundamentals of Physics: Resnick & Halliday.

3. Eric J. Irons, American Journal of Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 5, pp.426 (1947)