Name: Jose Silva Azevedo Date: Jul 14, 2024

SPH3U1 - Unit 3: Energy of a Pendulum

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: conservation of energy, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, pendulum, potential energy,
velocity
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. A toy car is about to roll down a track, as shown 2. A pendulum consists of a weight that is
below. At what point do you think the car will suspended from a pivot. At what point will the
reach its greatest speed? pendulum below move fastest?

✏️ Mark this point on the image. ✏️ Mark this point on the image.

3. What do these two situations have in common?

What these two situations have in common is that they both possess large amounts of
potential energy.

Gizmo Warm-up
Objects have several types of energy. Potential energy depends on an object’s position or shape. Kinetic
energy is the energy of movement. The Energy of a Pendulum
Gizmo allows you to explore how the amounts of these types of
energy change for a pendulum in motion.

1. On the DESCRIPTION pane, change the initial angle (θ) to 40

degrees. Click Play ( ). How does the velocity (speed and
direction) of the pendulum change as it swings from right to
left?
The velocity of the pendulum changes as it swings from right
to left by the velocity being increased the moment it reaches
around that middle area, once past the middle the velocity
begins to decrease.

2. On the image at right, ✏️

mark the point where the pendulum
swings fastest with an X. Then, circle the two points where the
velocity is zero.
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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
● Click Reset ( ).
Potential and
● Check that m is 0.5 kg, L is 2.0 m, g is 9.8 m/s2,
kinetic energy
and θ is 40 degrees.

Introduction: An object that is a certain height (h) above the ground has the potential to do work, and
therefore has potential energy. This type of potential energy is called gravitational potential energy
(GPE, or PE for short). The unit of energy is the joule (J).

Question: How are potential and kinetic energy related?

1. Observe: Select the BAR CHART tab. Click Play and observe. What do you notice about the
gravitational potential energy (PE), kinetic energy (KE), and total energy (TE)?

I notice that total energy remains the same throughout the experiment, while the
gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy keep increasing and decreasing. The
kinetic energy seems to increase around the middle, while the potential energy
increases on the sides.

2. Measure: Click Reset. Turn on Show numerical values.

A. What is the gravitational potential energy? 2.29 J

B. What is the kinetic energy? 0.0 J

C. What is the total energy? 2.29 J

3. Measure: Click Play, and then try to click Pause ( ) when the pendulum is in the middle of its
swing. (This might require several tries.)

A. What is the gravitational potential energy now? 0.0 J

B. What is the kinetic energy now? 2.29 J

C. What is the total energy? 2.29 J

4. Analyze: At any given time, what can you say about the total energy of the pendulum?

I can say that the total energy of the pendulum will always remain at 2.29 J

This illustrates the principle of conservation of energy. In a closed system, energy can be
converted from one form to another, but the total amount of energy remains the same.

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5. Interpret: Click Reset. Select the GRAPH tab and turn on the PE and KE checkboxes. Click Play,
wait about 4 seconds, and then click Pause.

What is the relationship between potential and kinetic energy?

The relationship between the potential and kinetic energy is that they are opposite.

6. Match: The graph below shows the potential and kinetic energy curves for a pendulum.
each pendulum image with the corresponding letter on the graph (A, B, or C).
✏️ Label

A C

7. Apply: Suppose a pendulum starts with a potential energy of 100 J. Assuming the pendulum has a
height of 0 m at the bottom of its swing, what is its maximum kinetic energy? Explain.

Assuming the pendulum has a height of 0 m at the bottom of its swing, the maximum
kinetic energy will be 100 J. This is because the potential energy gets turned into
kinetic energy if the height of the pendulum is 0 m.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B: ● Click Reset.
● Set m to 1.0 kg, L to 1.0 m, and g to 1.0 m/s2.
Calculating
(Note: You can set the slider values directly by
potential energy
entering values into the text boxes.)
● Set θ to 0 degrees.

Question: How is gravitational potential energy calculated?

1. Observe: Select the BAR CHART tab, and check that Show numerical values is on.

What is the potential energy of the pendulum? 1.00 J

2. Gather data: Record the potential energy of the pendulum for each of the following sets of values
for m, L, and g. Record the height (h) of the pendulum as well. (Because the pendulum’s pivot is 2
m above the ground, the height is equal to 2 meters – L meters.)

m (kg) L (m) h (m) g (m/s2) PE (J)

0.5 kg 1.0 m 1.0 m 6.0 m/s2 3.0 J

1.0 kg 1.2 m 0.80 m 2.0 m/s2 1.60 J

0.3 kg 1.1 m 0.90 m 1.0 m/s2 0.27 J

0.2 kg 1.5 m 0.50 m 3.0 m/s2 0.30 J

3. Find a pattern: What is the relationship between the potential energy of a pendulum and the values
for mass (m), height (h), and gravitational acceleration (g)?

The relationship between the potential energy of a pendulum and the values for mass,
height, and gravitational acceleration is that potential energy is equal to mass, height and
gravitational acceleration multiplied together.

4. Make a rule: Write an expression for potential energy based on m, h, and g. Test your expression
using the Gizmo.

PE = mgh

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5. Apply: What is the potential energy of a pendulum with a mass of 0.7 kg, a height of 0.3 m, and a
value of g equal to 9.8 m/s2?

PE = mgh = The potential energy of this pendulum is 2.06 J

PE = (0.7kg) (9.8m/s2) (0.3 m)
PE = 2.058
PE = 2.06

Check your answer using the Gizmo. (Hint: Set the length of the pendulum to 1.7 m.)

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity C:
● Select the DESCRIPTION tab.
Kinetic energy
● Set m to 1.0 kg, L to 1.3 m, g to 1.0 m/s2, and θ to
and velocity –
40 degrees.

Question: How is potential energy converted to kinetic energy?

1. Observe: Select the BAR CHART tab, and check that Show numerical values is on.

A. What is the height of the pendulum? 1 meter

B. What is the potential energy of the pendulum? 1.0 J

C. What is the kinetic energy of the pendulum? 0.0 J

2. Observe: Click Play, and then click Pause when the pendulum is at the bottom of its swing.

A. What is the approximate height of the pendulum now? About 0.7 meters

B. What is the potential energy of the pendulum? 0.7 J

C. What is the kinetic energy of the pendulum? 0.3 J

3. Calculate: The formula for kinetic energy is as follows:

✏️
Based on this formula, what is the velocity (v) of the pendulum at the bottom of its swing?
Show your work using GRASP.

Given: Solution :

KE = 0.3 J 0.3 J = ½(1.0 kg)v2

m = 1.0 kg 0.3 J = (0.5 kg)v2
0.3 J / 0.5 kg = v2
Required: 0.6 = v2
√0.6 = √v2
V=? 0.77 m/s = v

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 Analysis: Statement:
The velocity of the pendulum at the bottom of its swing
is 0.77 m/s

Velocity = 0.77 m/s

is the maximum velocity of this pendulum?

height of the pendulum is now 0.468 m.)
✏️
4. Calculate: Click Reset. Set m to 1.0 kg, L to 2.0 m, g to 9.8 m/s2, and θ to –40 degrees. What
Show your work using GRASP. (Hint: The exact

Given: Solution:

m: 1.0 kg PE = (1.0 kg)(9.8 m/s2)(0.468 m)

g: 9.8 m/s2 m PE = (9.8)(0.468m)
h: 0.468 m PE = 4.59 J = KE

Required: 4.59 J = ½ (1.0 kg)v2

4.59 J = (0.5)v2
v=? 4.59 J / 0.5 = v2
9.18 = v2
Analysis: √9.18 = √v2
3.03 m/s2 = v
PE = mgh
Statement:

The maximum velocity of this pendulum is 3.03 m/s

Velocity = 3.03 m/s

The End 😊
Download a copy of your completed Lab as a .pdf and submit it to the
Unit 3 Lab Dropbox in D2L

*Remember to complete the 5 Assessment Questions found below the

simulations on the Gizmo page*

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