DETERMINATION OF ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY

USING BAR PENDULUM

Aim: To determine the acceleration due to gravity using bar pendulum.

Apparatus: Bar pendulum with knife edges, Stopwatch, Meter Scale,

Telescope

Theory: Compound Pendulum: It is a rigid body of any shape and of mass

‘m’ and is free to swing about a horizontal axis through ‘S’. ‘S’ is the point
of suspension and G is the center of gravity. The distance between S and G
is ‘  ’. The weight ‘mg’ is acting vertically downwards through ‘G’. The
body is displaced by a small angle . The restoring torque ‘’ acting against
this motion is related to the component of weight ‘mg’ as,

   mg  sin  --------------(1)

If ‘I’ is the moment of inertia of the body

about ‘S’, then
d 2
 I 2  mg  sin 
dt
d 2
mg 
 2
 sin 
dt I
d 2
 2   2 sin   0
dt
For small , sin ~ . Hence above
expression can be modified as

d 2
2
  2  0 ----------------------(2)
dt
mg 
where,   . Equation (2) is the second order polynomial representing
I
simple harmonic motion whose time period is
I
T  2 ------------------(3)1
mg 

Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela

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Since the body is not swinging about its center of gravity ‘G’ but about an
axis ‘S’ which is parallel to the axis about center of gravity. Hence the
moment of inertia about this new axis is2

 
I  I G  m 2  mk 2  m 2  m k 2   2 -----(4)

where I G is the moment of inertia about C.G and k is the radius of gyration.
Substituting (4) in (3), we get

T  2

m 2  k 2   2 1  k2  L
     2 -----(5)
mg  g   g
On comparing this expression of time period with that of simple pendulum,
 k2 
it turns out that L      is equivalent to the effective length of the
  
compound pendulum. This is equivalent to a simple pendulum whose center
 k2 
of mass is at O and length of the pendulum as SO      . The point O is
  
called the “center of oscillation”. The new length of the pendulum (SO) is
obtained if the line SG is extended along the same direction until point O is
reached where OG = k 2 /  . Now to know the value of g, our job is to find L.
We know that
 k2 
L    
  
  2  L  k 2  0 -----(6)
This is a quadratic equation in  , which means that  will have two values
(say a and b ) so that a  b  L and ab  k 2 .
The points S and O are interchangeable. This means that the body oscillating
about S will have the same time period if it is oscillating about O. We know
that,

The plot of  vs L will have the behaviour as in fig 2 with L on Y-axis. The
plot will have two minimas which can be obtained by differentiating the
equation (6) with respect to  .

Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela

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 dL
2  L   0
d
dL 1
  2  L 
d 
Point of minima can found by equating dT / da  0 , which gives   L / 2 .
Hence at   L / 2 , the value of k found using  2  L  k 2  0 is
2
L L
  L k 0
2

2 2
L2
 k2
4
L
k  --------------------(7)
2
Hence, Tmin is obtained when a  k  L / 2 and the corresponding Tmin is,
1  k2 
Tmin  2   a
g a 
1  k2 
 2  k
g k 
2k
 2
g
This means at Tmin , half of the distance between the minima gives radius of
gyration k , i.e, k  PQ / 2 .

Procedure:
1. The bar pendulum is a metallic bar of approximately one meter long
with number of holes along the length. Locate the center of gravity
(C.G) of the bar pendulum. This is the central hole of the bar
pendulum.

2. Using cello tapes, fix two pins (vertically) on both ends of the bar
pendulum. This will help in locating the position of the pendulum
while swinging.
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Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela

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 3. Considering the central hole to be origin (zero position), the first hole
from center is 1st, second hole is 2nd and so on, so that the last hole is
on either side of C.G is 9th hole.4
4. Starting from one end of the bar, suspend the bar about the 9th hole to
the edge of the knife on the wall. Focus the telescope on the pin at
lower end (attached to the bar using cello tape).

5. Produce a swing of angle  in the bar pendulum so that plane of swing

is as shown in the fig 1. In any case  should not exceed 4o i.e.,  < 4o.
Use the telescope and pin arrangement for this purpose.

6. Using a stop watch, note down the time taken for 20 oscillations (say
t1). Repeat this measurement for another two times and find t2 and t3
(total three times). Calculate the average time taken for 20 oscillations
tavg = [(t1+t2+t3)/3]. Obtain the time period for one oscillation (T) by
dividing tavg by 20, T = tavg /20.

7. Repeat the procedure 4 to 6 by suspending the bar pendulum through

different holes upto the central but one hole. i.e., 8th hole to 1st hole.

8. Invert the bar pendulum, and repeat the above procedures to find the
respective time periods corresponding to various holes of suspension.

9. Plot a graph between the distance of suspended holes (with respect to

the central hole) on the X-axis and respective time period on the Y-
axis. The distance for the inverted bar will be on the negative X-axis.
The plot obtained will be similar to that depicted in fig 2.

10. Draw lines 1 and 2 parallel to X-axis to cut these two symmetrical
curves at P1, Q1, R1, S1 and P2, Q2, R2, S2. Measure the distance
between the symmetric points on either (P1R1 & Q1S1) and (P2R2 and
Q2S2). Use table II to find g avg .

11. Draw line 3 parallel to X-axis so as to meet the curve tangentially at

two different points P and R. Find lengths PG and GR and use table II
to find g avg .

Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela

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Observation:
TABLE I: Table for finding the time period.

Sl. No D (distance from C.G) t1 t2 t3 Mean ‘t’ T = t/20

in c.m (sec) (sec) (sec) (sec) (sec)
1 45
2 40
3 :
. 0
. :
. -40
. -45

TABLE II: Calculation of acceleration due to gravity ‘g’

Tmin 

S.No Line T L k k 4 2 L g avg 4 2  a  b  g avg

g g
(Sec) (cm) (cm) (cm) T2 Tmin 2

1. P1Q1G1R1S1 P1 R1  Q1S1 a  PG
1 1  G1 R1 b  Q1G1  G1S1 : :
2
2. P2Q2G2R2S2 P2 R2  Q2 S2 : :
a  P2G2  G2 R2 b  Q2G2  G2 S 2
2
3 PGR PR : :
a  PG  GR b  PG  GR

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5

Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela

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Result: (1) The average value of g obtained using bar pendulum is
g avg   g cm/sec2
(NOTE: The result should be found by taking the average of both g avg
obtained in table II.)

(2) The radius of gyration about an axis through the center of gravity is
found to be equal to (PR/2) ----- cm.

Error Analysis: We have

 L 
g  4 2  2 
T 
Taking natural log on both sides,
ln g  ln  4 2   ln L  2 ln T
Differentiating partially,
g L T
 0 2
g L T
Making all negative sign to positive for maximum error
g L T
 2
g L T
Maximum error in g
L T 
g  2  g
 L T 
where,  L is the least count of scale used for measurement of length and  T
is the least count of the stopwatch used for measuring time period.

Precautions: (1) Distances from C.G should be measured accurately.

(2) Amplitude of oscillation should be small

(3) Oscillation should be confined in the plane of bar pendulum only.

(4) Number of oscillations should be counted properly.

(5) Pendulum should be free to swing about the knife edge.

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Compiled Dr. P.N.Vishwakarma, Department of Physics, NIT-Rourkela