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Suppose you wanted to do an experiment to find out if changing the weight on the end of the string changed the amount of time the pendulum takes to swing back and forth. Which pendulums would you use for the experiment?

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2007-08-05 06:51:54 · 5 answers · asked by sunsadness 1 in Science & Mathematics Physics

5 answers

Put W = Mg weight on the end of a string L long. Displace the weight theta degrees from the vertical. Keep theta small, no more than 5-10 degree I would think.

Time the number of oscillations (N) in T elapsed minutes, maybe ten minutes or so. Frequency = F = N/T number of oscillations per min.

Now repeat the experiment with w = mg < Mg = W tied to the end of the same string of L length. Let it swing from the same theta and count the number of oscillations n in T minutes to see if f = n/T > N/T = F or f = n/T < N/T = F or f = n/T = N/T = F. Then explain your results...why you got what you did. Go to your textbooks for the theory and equations of a swinging pendulum for this part of your report.

2007-08-05 07:31:02 · answer #1 · answered by oldprof 7 · 0 0

keep the length and type of pendulum constant and change only one variable, mass at end of the string

vary that mass in some predictable way, say 2 g, 4 g, 8 g, 16g, etc.

Or 1 g, 10 g, 100 g, 1000 g, something like that.

According to Galileo, the time will not change.
(period of a pendulum depends on length of the string, longer string makes longer period, a grandfather style clock is a good example of using the constant period to tell time)

Interesting trivia: in Galileo's time before he worked this all out there were no accurate clocks, so the most accurate way to time something was to have skilled musicians play a piece of music

2007-08-05 07:00:33 · answer #2 · answered by yyyyyy 6 · 0 0

Well it looks like 1 and 4 are the same length so use them. With different weight on there they should have the same exact swing time

2007-08-05 06:58:59 · answer #3 · answered by dajdawg 3 · 0 0

1 & 4.

It appears that 1 and 4 are the same length. They have a great enough difference in weight to clock for measuring any significant difference in time.

2007-08-05 08:56:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

keep it simple, just a bit of string and a lump of metal if you can get hold of it, preferably something round.

It doesn't have to be perfect, its not as if the physics world is waiting for the answer, text books no it already. Its about practicing doing an experiement.

2007-08-05 06:58:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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