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    Variable - G

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    xogus6216
    This document describes an experiment that explores how the period of a simple pendulum depends on the acceleration due to gravity. A pendulum consisting of a 35-cm aluminum rod with a 150-g mass is mounted on a sensor and its plane of oscillation is tilted at varying angles, effectively reducing the acceleration of gravity. The period is measured at angles from 0 to 85 degrees and plotted against the effective gravitational acceleration, defined as g cosθ. Curve fitting is used to determine the functional dependence of period on gravitational acceleration.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Variable - G

    Uploaded by

    xogus6216
    34 views4 pages
    This document describes an experiment that explores how the period of a simple pendulum depends on the acceleration due to gravity. A pendulum consisting of a 35-cm aluminum rod with a 150-g mass is mounted on a sensor and its plane of oscillation is tilted at varying angles, effectively reducing the acceleration of gravity. The period is measured at angles from 0 to 85 degrees and plotted against the effective gravitational acceleration, defined as g cosθ. Curve fitting is used to determine the functional dependence of period on gravitational acceleration.

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    4. Variable_g

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    This document describes an experiment that explores how the period of a simple pendulum depends on the acceleration due to gravity. A pendulum consisting of a 35-cm aluminum rod with a 150-g mass is mounted on a sensor and its plane of oscillation is tilted at varying angles, effectively reducing the acceleration of gravity. The period is measured at angles from 0 to 85 degrees and plotted against the effective gravitational acceleration, defined as g cosθ. Curve fitting is used to determine the functional dependence of period on gravitational acceleration.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    34 views4 pages

    Variable - G

    Uploaded by

    xogus6216
    This document describes an experiment that explores how the period of a simple pendulum depends on the acceleration due to gravity. A pendulum consisting of a 35-cm aluminum rod with a 150-g mass is mounted on a sensor and its plane of oscillation is tilted at varying angles, effectively reducing the acceleration of gravity. The period is measured at angles from 0 to 85 degrees and plotted against the effective gravitational acceleration, defined as g cosθ. Curve fitting is used to determine the functional dependence of period on gravitational acceleration.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Variable-g Pendulum EX-9904 Page 1 of 4

    Variable-g Pendulum
    EQUIPMENT

    1 Large Rod Stand ME-8735


    1 45 cm Long Steel Rod ME-8736
    1 Variable-g Pendulum Accessory ME-8745
    1 Mini-Rotational Accessory (Need rod and masses only) CI-6691
    1 Rotary Motion Sensor CI-6538
    Additional Equipment Required (not included)
    1 ScienceWorkshop 500 Interface CI-6400
    1 DataStudio Software

    INTRODUCTION

    This experiment explores the dependence of the period of a simple pendulum on the acceleration
    due to gravity.

    A simple rigid pendulum consists of a 35-cm long lightweight (28 g) aluminum tube with a 150-
    g mass at the end, mounted on a Rotary Motion Sensor. The pendulum is constrained to oscillate
    in a plane tilted at an angle from the vertical. This effectively reduces the acceleration due to
    gravity because the restoring force is decreased.

    THEORY

    A simple pendulum consists of a point mass at a distance L away from a pivot point. In this
    experiment, a mass is attached to a lightweight rod and the mass is concentrated enough to
    assume it is a point mass and the rod's mass can be neglected.

    The period of a simple pendulum is given by


    L
    T ≅ 2π (1)
    g effective

    for small amplitude (less than 20o).

    In this experiment, the acceleration due to gravity (g) will be varied. To accomplish the variation
    in g, the plane of oscillation of the pendulum will be varied. See Figure 1. The component of g
    that pulls straight down on the pendulum when it is in equilibrium is the effective g:

    = g cos θ
    g effective (2)

    Written by Ann Hanks


    Variable-g Pendulum EX-9904 Page 2 of 4

    geffective θ

    g
    Figure 1: Plane of oscillation rotated to vary g
    SET UP

    1. Remove the thumb screw from the clamp on the Rotary Motion Sensor. See Figure 2.

    2. Remove one of the rod clamps from the Adjustable Angle Clamp.

    3. Screw the Adjustable Angle Clamp onto the Rotary Motion Sensor.

    Figure 2: Attaching the Rod Clamp

    Written by Ann Hanks


    Variable-g Pendulum EX-9904 Page 3 of 4

    4. Mount the Rotary Motion Sensor on the rod stand


    (see Figure 3).

    5. Put the pulley on the Rotary Motion Sensor with the


    largest step outward. Attach the rod to the Rotary
    Motion Sensor pulley and put the two 75 g masses on
    the end of the rod.

    Figure 3: Setup
    Figure 4: Attaching Angle Indicator

    6. Slide the angle indicator onto the end of the Rotary Motion Sensor (see Figure 4).

    7. Plug the Rotary Motion Sensor into Channels 1 and 2 on the ScienceWorkshop interface.

    8. Open the DataStudio file called "Variable-g".

    PROCEDURE

    1. Clamp the pendulum clamp at zero degrees. Click on START and displace the pendulum
    from equilibrium (no more than 20 degrees amplitude) and let go. Read the period on the
    digits display and type the value into the table on the line next to zero degrees. Do NOT
    click on STOP.

    2. Clamp the pendulum at 5 degrees. Displace the pendulum from equilibrium (no more
    than 20 degrees amplitude) and let go. Record the new period in the table.

    3. Repeat Step 2 for 10 degrees to 85 degrees, in increments of 5 degrees. Then click on


    STOP.

    4. Examine the graph of the period vs. g effective . To determine how the period depends on g,
    use the Curve Fit by clicking on the Fit button at the top of the graph. Select various
    functions to try to find which function fits the data.

    Written by Ann Hanks


    Variable-g Pendulum EX-9904 Page 4 of 4

    QUESTIONS

    1. How does the period depend on the acceleration due to gravity?

    2. What do the constants in the curve fit for the Period vs. g data represent? Calculate what
    they should be theoretically and compare the theoretical value to the curve fit constants.

    3. Would the pendulum be longer or shorter on the Moon?

    4. What would the period be if the pendulum had been inclined to 90 degrees? What value
    of g does this correspond to?

    Written by Ann Hanks

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