468 Oseilatory Motion ‘Active Figure 15.17 When 0s ‘anall, simple pendulum ovilates in simple harmonic motion about the equilibrium position @ = 0. The restoring force is ~ mgein 8 the component ofthe gramtational force tangent tothe ate BD atthe active Figures link at http://wow.ps06.com, you ‘can adjust the mass of the bob, the length of the string, and the initial angle and see the resulting oscillation of the pendulum. A PITFALL PREVENTION 15,5 Not True Simple Harmonic Motion Remember that the pendulum does not exhibit true simple ar monic motion for any angle, If the angle is less than about 10°, the motion is close to and can be ‘modeled a8 simple harmonic ‘Angular frequency for a simple pendulum Petiod of a simple pendulum 15.5 The Pendulum The simple pendulum is another mechanical system that exhibits periodic motion, It ‘consists of a particlelike bob of mass m suspended by a light string of length Z. that is fixed at the upper end, as shown in Figure 15.17. The motion occurs in the v plane and is driven by the gravitational force, We shall show that, provided the angle iis simall (less than about 10°), the motion is very close to that of a simple harmonic oscillator The forces acting on the bob are the force T exerted by the stuing and the gravita- tional force mg. The tangential component mgsin @ of the gravitational force always acts toward @~ 0, opposite the displacement of the bob from the lowest position, Therefore, the tangential component is a restoring force, and we can apply Newton's second law for motion in the tangential direction: as ae = imgsin = m where sis che bob's position measured along the arc and the negative sign indicates that the tangential force acts toward the equilibrium (vertical) position, Because «= 10 (Eq, 10.12) and Lis constant, this equation reduces to ao foe fino @ Considering 0 as the position, let us compare this equation to Equation 15.3—does it hhave the same mathematical form? The right side is proportional to sin 0 rather than to 0; hence, we would not expect simple harmonic motion because this expression is not of the form of Equation 15,3. Hovever, if we assume that 0 is small, vee can use the approximation sin = 0; thus, in this approximation, the equation of motion for the simple pendulum becomes we OT 6 (for small values of 8) (1524) [Now we have an expression that has the same form as Equation 15.3, and we conclude that the motion for smnall amplitudes of oscillation is simple harmonic motion. There- Onan €08( 0H + 4), whete Dyas is the maximum ‘angular pestion and the angular frequency wis fore, the function @ can be waitten as 0 ra £ eV (15.28) The period of the motion is (15.28) In other words, the period and frequency of a simple pendulum depend only on the length of the string and the acceleration due to gravity. Because the period is independent of the mass, we conclude that all simple pendula that are of equal Iengtl and are at the same location (so that gis constant) ostillate with the same period. The analogy between the motion ofa simple pendulum and thal of a block-spring system i ced in Figure 15.11, ‘The simple pendulum can be used asa timekeeper because its period depends only illus ‘on its length and the local value of g, Its also a convenient device for making precite measurements of the free-fall acceleration, Such measurements are important because variations in local valuer of g can provide information on the location of oil and of other valuable underground resourcesSECTION TSS + The Pendlum 46 Quick Quiz 15.7 A grandfather clock depends onthe period ofa pendulum eee eee cereale en tee eee el ot eee ee tal ean emer enact Dos the grandfather clock run (a) low (8) fat (2) correct? Quick Quiz 15.8 seppose a grandéuer clock is clibrated coneetiy at sea ee ese ee ere aaa ee ee (Christian Huygens (1629-1695), the greatest clockmaker in history, suggested that an international anit of length could be defined at the length of a simple pendulum having a pe- What If? What If Huygens had been born on another planet? What would the value for g have to be on that planet ‘such that the meter based on Huygens's pendulum would Hod of exactly 1 s. How much shorter would our length unit Jue as our meter? bbe had his suggestion been followed? have the same: Answer We solve Equation 15.26 for ¢ Solution Solving Equation 15.26 for the length giver 4n(1.00 m) bo sosmnt 2920.80 m/s AEE) = ant m/st = 995 m/s p= Fe. Gmaresw/) 9245 ‘ (0057 No planet in our solar system has an acceleration due to ‘Thus, the meters length would be slighty less than one gravity that it this lage Fourth ofits current length, Note that the number of signifi ‘cant digits depends only on how precisely we know g because the time has been defined to be exactly Is. Physical Pendulum Suppose you balance a wire coat hanger so that the hook is supported by your ex- tended index finger. When you give the hanger a small angular displacement (with your other hand) and then release it, it oscillates, Ifa hanging object oscillates about a fixed axis that does not pass through its center of mass and the object cannot be ap- proximated as a point mass, we cannot treat the system as a simple pendulum, In this case the system is called a physical pendulum. Consider a rigid object pivoted at a point O that is a distance d from the center of mass (Fig. 15.18). The gravitational force provides a torque about an axis through 0, and the magnitude of that torque is mgd sin 6, where # is as shown in Figure 15.18, Using the rotational form of Newton's second law, ¥r= a, where is the moment of inertia about the axis through 0, we obtain ao ae Pivot gd sin 8 = ‘The negative sign indicates that the torque about O tends to decrease @. That is, the sravitational force produces a restoring torque. If we again assume that 0 ie sinall, the approximation sin 0 is valid, and the equation of motion reduces to wo -(2#) “ -ato ra 7 (1527) Because this equation is of the same form as Equation 15.3, the motion is simple har- monic motion, That is, the solution of Equation 15.27 is = @ax cos(iat +), where ax is the maximum angular position and os we ye Figure 15.18 A physical pendu- 7 tun pioted at