INVESTIGATION OF THE OSCILATORY MOTION OF THE

SIMPLE PENDULUM TO FIND THE ACCELERATION DUE TO

Introduction
Many things in nature wiggle in a periodic fashion. That is, they vibrate. One such example is a
simple pendulum. Pendulums are in common usage. Some have crucial uses, such as in clocks; some are
for fun, such as a child’s swing. If we suspend a mass at the end of a piece of string, we have a simple
pendulum. Here, the to and fro motion represents a periodic motion used in times past to control the
motion of grandfather and cuckoo clocks. Such oscillatory motion is called simple harmonic motion. It was
Galileo who first observed that the time a pendulum takes to swing back and forth through small distances
depends only on the length of the pendulum The time of this to and fro motion, called the period, does not
depend on the mass of the pendulum or on the size of the arc through which it swings. Another factor
involved in the period of motion is, the acceleration due to gravity (g), which on the earth is 9.8 m/s 2 . It
follows then that a long pendulum has a greater period than a shorter pendulum.
The simple pendulum  consists of a point mass m suspended by means of a light inextensible
string from a fixed support. The motion occurs in a vertical plane and is driven by a gravitational force.
The forces which are acting on the mass are shown in the figure. The tangential component of the
gravitational force, mg sin θ, always acts towards the mean position θ = 0 opposite to the displacement,
restoring force acting tangent to the arc. The tension in the string is balanced by the component of weight
mg cos θ.

Research Question
What is the degree of accuracy of acceleration due to gravity using simple pendulum?

Aim
The aim of this investigation is to find the acceleration due to gravity of earth.

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Simple Pendulum
Apparatus
A Stand and clamp, Hook, Metal bob, Ruler with the graduation of 1 mm and length of 100 cm, String,
Stop watch, Board marker or a reference pointer etc.
Independent Variable
In this experiment, the effect of change in length of the pendulum on period of a simple pendulum is
investigated. Therefore, the length of the pendulum is changed and it is arranged as 40cm, 50cm, 60cm, 70
cm, 80 cm and the lengths are measured by using a ruler with the length of 100cm.

Dependent Variable:
In this investigation, the dependent variable is the period of 20 oscillations. It is measured by using stop
watch.

Controlled Variables:
There are some other factors that affect the period of simple pendulum. In order to investigate effect of
only length of the pendulum on the period of simple pendulum, all the other factors are kept constant
throughout the experiment. The mass that is hanged from the pendulum is constant. Also, the material of
the masses that are hanged from the pendulum is iron for each.

Hypothesis
As the length of pendulum increases, it is expected for the bob to take more time to complete its one
oscillation, thus the period of one simple oscillation is expected to increase as well.

Exploring the simple pendulum a bit further, we can discover the conditions under which it
performs simple harmonic motion, and we can derive an interesting expression for its period.

Time Period of Simple Pendulum Derivation

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Simple Pendulum
 Consider a simple pendulum set up on a light string moving through a small angle θ through the
equilibrium position. The length of the string is r. The displacement of the mass from the equilibrium is x.
The arc length the string moves along is s. The mass has a force of mg downwards, which is its weight.
When the pendulum is released, it moves to the left because of the force provided by the component of
weight, as shown by the green arrow to the left. The size of the force equals

The minus sign shows that the displacement and acceleration are in opposite directions. According to
Newton’s Second Law, we know

Equating the two, we get

As the pendulum moves through a small angle, we know that

We can substitute that into our equation for the acceleration

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Simple Pendulum
IF we measure the angle in radians, we know that

We can also approximate the arc length s as x since the pendulum has moved through a small angle. We

also know that the radius of the motion is the length of the string L. . Therefore

Substituting, we get

We know that the defining equation for simple harmonic motion is

We can now equate the two equations

Further rearranging gives us

2
g = 4 2 L / T

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Simple Pendulum
Methodology
1. Find the zero error of the vernier callipers and record it.
2. Determine the mean diameter of the simple pendulum bob using the vernier
callipers.
3. Find the mean radius of the bob with uncertainties and represent it using ‘r’.
4. Record the value of radius of the bob with its uncertainty.
5. Attach a string to the bob.
6. Put ink marks M1,M2 and M3 on the string at distance of 40 cm, 50cm, 60cm,
70cm and 80cm from the bob .
7. Fix the clamp in a stand kept on the table.
8. Mark a point A on the floor just below the position of the bob at rest.
9. Find the least count and the zero error of the stop watch.
10. Move bob using the hand at an angle not more than 45 0 and leave it. See that the
bob returns over the line without spinning.
11. The stop watch is started when the pendulum crosses the equilibrium position to
any one side.
12. When it passes the equilibrium position in the same direction the next time it has
completed one oscillation.
13. Just when the 20th oscillation is complete, count 20 and at once stop the stop
watch.
14. Note the total time taken for twenty oscillations from the position of both the
hands of the watch.
15. Repeat the experiment for lengths 50cm, 60cm, 70cm, 80 cm. In each case L/ T 2   
is calculated.
16. The uncertainty in reading an instrument is ± half of the smallest width of the
graduations ( Least count ) on the instrument.
17. For digital instruments, we may take the reading error to be the smallest division
that the instrument can read. So a stopwatch that reads time to two decimal
places, e.g. 25.38 s, will have a reading error of ± 0.01 s, and a weighing scale that
records a mass as 184.5 g will have a reading error of ± 0.1 g.

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Simple Pendulum
The reading error depends on the least count of the instrument.

18. Plot a graph with error bars

19. Plot the best-fit line, along with lines of maximum and minimum gradient and find the
uncertainties in the gradient.

The L-T2 graph

We can plot a graph between L and T 2 by taking L along the y axis and T 2 along the x axis.
The graph is a straight line. 

From the graph, L / T 2 = BC / AC = ………………...

Data
Least count of vernier callipers =
Uncertainties in vernier callipers reading =
Diameter of the given bob with uncertainties D =
Radius of the given bob with uncertainties R =
Least count of meter scale =
Uncertainties in length measurement =

Raw Data

Length of Time for 20 Average

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Simple Pendulum
Processed Data

S Length of Length of Average value of Period T 2 2 2

1
2
3
4
5

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Simple Pendulum
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Simple Pendulum
Calculation and Analysis

Conclusion:

Acceleration due to gravity g from graph= ………………………. m/s2.

Percentage uncertainty in the value of g =……………………..…… m/s2.

Improvement:
The experiment is designed to take reading and process data using manual methods. We
can make use of LDR based timers and Excel software to draw error bars.

REFERENCE:
TOSKOS, K. A. 2015. Physics for the IB Diploma: Sixth Edition, University Printing House,
Cambridge CB2 8 BS, United Kingdom.
Cambridge University Press.

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Simple Pendulum