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Experiment 2: Simple Pendulum Experiment I: Experiment Background and Theory

1) This document describes three experiments that verify relationships for a simple pendulum, including the period of oscillation as related to length and small angle of release. 2) The first experiment varies the angle of release to show the period is independent of angle, as predicted by theory. 3) The second experiment varies the length of the pendulum to show how period changes with length. 4) The third experiment introduces an obstacle to show that energy is conserved between the two extremes of oscillation, validating the law of conservation of energy.

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Ammar Shahzad
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115 views2 pages

Experiment 2: Simple Pendulum Experiment I: Experiment Background and Theory

1) This document describes three experiments that verify relationships for a simple pendulum, including the period of oscillation as related to length and small angle of release. 2) The first experiment varies the angle of release to show the period is independent of angle, as predicted by theory. 3) The second experiment varies the length of the pendulum to show how period changes with length. 4) The third experiment introduces an obstacle to show that energy is conserved between the two extremes of oscillation, validating the law of conservation of energy.

Uploaded by

Ammar Shahzad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name Surname: Muhammad Ammar Shahzad Date: 11 / 6 / 2020

Student ID No: 2488799


Section No: 13

Experiment 2: Simple Pendulum Experiment I

Experiment Background and Theory


There are three experiments that will be performed under this experiment title and the purpose of
these experiments is to verify the relations between dimensions related to simple harmonic
pendulum motion. Simple Harmonic Motion is the periodic motion under a resultant restoring force
which brings the object on which it acts to its equilibrium position. Hence the equilibrium position
can also be defined as the position when the magnitude of this restoring force is equal to zero.
Secondly, it’s also important to know the period of oscillations which can be defined as the time
taken by the pendulum to reach its extreme position after being released from the same position
initially. The formula to calculate time period is mentioned below.
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 (𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏) = (𝟏)
𝒏
It should be noted that n does not include the initial extreme position from which the pendulum is
released. Lastly, as small angle approximations (sin(𝜃) ≈ 𝜃) have been used to derive most of the
formulas mentioned below so we have to keep the angle of release (𝜃) less than 6 degrees to verify
the relation between our theory and practical. In the sub-experiments mentioned below, we use Earth
Standard gravity [1] (g=9.80665 ms-2) as ‘g’ in our equations.

TASK A: In this task we have to construct a simple pendulum as shown in Fig 1 in the section
below to verify that the following relation holds for all small values of angle of release (𝜃).
𝐿
𝜏 = 2𝜋√ (2)
𝑔
In the above experiment we have to keep the mass of bob (M) and length of the string (L) constant
so the only variable in our experiment is the angle of release (𝜃). Lastly, the values of Time Period
(𝜏) should be recorded for different values of 𝜃 (up to 6 degrees) and if 𝜏 is independent of 𝜃, the
obtained values of time period will be consistent and almost equal to the theoretically calculated
value of time period which will prove that relation shown in equation 2 is correct.

TASK B: Unlike task A, the length L is a variable in this task instead of 𝜃 to verify the relation
between L and 𝜏 in equation 2 which has been used again in this experiment.
𝐿
𝜏 = 2𝜋√ (2)
𝑔
In this experiment we have to keep the mass of bob (M) constant and as we already know that 𝜏 is
independent from 𝜃 (from Task A) so the only variable in our experiment is the length of the string
(L) that will be used in this experiment. The equation above can also be rearranged as shown.
𝐿
𝜏 2 = 4𝜋 2 (3)
𝑔
Different values of 𝜏 and 𝜏 2 must be calculated (by theory) and measured (by experiment) for
different values of L and two graphs will be plotted for 𝜏𝑖2 (𝐿𝑖 )theory (this implies that time period is
a function of length)and 𝜏𝑖2 (𝐿𝑖 )measured against 𝐿𝑖 . The graph of 𝜏𝑖2 (𝐿𝑖 )measured against 𝐿𝑖 will be a
4𝜋2
straight line (𝜏 2 ∝ 𝐿) as shown in equation 2 with slope equal to and hence, an experimental
𝑔
value of g can be calculated from the slope of the graph.

TASK C: As stated in the law of conservation of energy, energy can neither be created not destroyed
but only it can be transferred from one body to another or changed from one form into another form.
In this sub-experiment, our aim is to verify if the above law still holds for our pendulum if there is
an obstacle that obstructs the movement of pendulum as shown in Fig 2 below. This experiment can
also be calculated by verifying if all of the potential energy converts into kinetic energy when the
bob has maximum velocity but as it would be more difficult to measure the maximum velocity of
the bob, so the above law is verified by confirming if all of the potential energy on one extreme
position (e.g. on extreme right) is equal (or almost equal) to the potential energy on the other extreme
position (i.e. extreme left). The height of bob will be measured on both ends to apply the formula
of potential energy mentioned below and if the difference in height is the same from equilibrium
position, it will indicate that the potential energy on both ends of the pendulum is equal or it has
remained conserved between both ends.
𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = 𝑚𝑔ℎ (4)
To measure this value of h, trigonometric identities will be used along with small angle
approximation as it can’t be measured directly with great accuracy. Once the height is calculated on
both ends, we will calculate potential energy on each extreme of the oscillation and if the potential
energy is same on both ends, then it will verify our hypothesis that energy is conserved on both
extremes (left and right).

Description of Experiment & Drawings or Sketches of Setup


To set up these experiments, a M12 nut is being used as a bob which is suspended with the help of
a thin string with negligible mass compared to the mass of the bob. This is done to ensure that most
of the mass of the system is concentrated at the bob
which should act as a point mass in this case.
Secondly, Tracker software is being used in this
experiment to take all measurements of length, height
etc. and even the angle 𝜃 can be measured using the
same software by using some calculations (it can be
measured using a protractor too which is less accurate
but more convenient for taking measurements).
Whenever any measurements of time period are
required, time period of at least 10 oscillations should
be measured and then time period for one oscillation shall be calculated using
equation 1 to minimize the chance of random error in our measurements due to human reaction time
and other errors. Lastly, we know that our measurements are never perfect and hence there is always
some uncertainty so those uncertainties should be also included in all calculations either in form of
absolute uncertainty or percentage uncertainty to maintain the accuracy of the experiment.

References
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_of_Earth#:~:text=The%20nominal%20%22av
erage%22%20value%20at,for%20the%20variable%20local%20value)

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