Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

Collage of natural and social science

General physics

Experiment on The simple pendulum

Group members ID Number

Bethelhem Seleshi ETS0316/14

Betemariam Yilma ETS0317/14

Bethel Solomon ETS0318/14

Bethel Adamu ETS0319/14

Bethelehem Fisseha ETS0320/14

Bethelhem Abrham ETS0321/14

Biniam G/Michael ETS0347/14

Biniam Getachew ETS0349/14

Biniam Getahun ETS0350/14

Submitted to: Inst. Haileyesus

Submission date: July 21, 2022

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 The simple pendulum

THE SIMPLE PENDULUM

OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this experiment is:
(1) To determine the effects or contribution of the length of the string and find out a
mathematical relationship between the length and the period.
(2) To determine the acceleration due to gravity g.
(3) To find out the mathematical relationship between the length and the period.
HYPOTHESIS:
Since the length of the string which the bob is hanged on is shortened, the magnitude of the
period for the simple pendulum gets decreased.
APPARATUS / MATERIALS:

 A string used as a rigid rod

 Meter stick

 Pendulum bob of constant mass

 Table clamp

 A rod on which the mass is fixed

 Stopwatch

 Digital compass

INTRODUCTION

THEORY:
A simple pendulum may be described ideally as a point mass suspended by a massless string
from some point about which it is allowed to swing back and forth in a place. A simple
pendulum can be approximated by a small metal sphere which has a small radius and a large
mass when compared relatively to the length and mass of the light string from which it is
suspended. If a pendulum is set in motion so that it swings back and forth, its motion will be
periodic. The time that it takes to make one complete oscillation is defined as the period T.

When a simple pendulum is displaced from its equilibrium position, there will be a restoring
force that moves the pendulum back towards its equilibrium position. As the motion of the
pendulum carries it past the equilibrium position, the restoring force changes its direction
so that it is still directed towards the equilibrium position. If the restoring force F is opposite

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and directly proportional to the displacement x from the equilibrium position, so that it
satisfies the relationship
F = - k x ………………. (1)
then the motion of the pendulum will be simple harmonic motion and its period can be
calculated using the equation for the period of simple harmonic motion
T = 2π√ (m/k) …………. (2)
It can be shown that if the amplitude of the motion is kept small, Equation (2) will be
satisfied and the motion of a simple pendulum will be simple harmonic motion, and
Equation (2) can be used.

Figure 1. Diagram illustrating the restoring force for a simple pendulum.

The restoring force for a simple pendulum is supplied by the vector sum of the gravitational
force on the mass, mg, and the tension in the string, TS. The

magnitude of the restoring force depends on the gravitational force and the displacement of
the mass from the equilibrium position. Consider Figure 1 where a mass m is suspended by
a string of length l and is displaced from its equilibrium position by an angle θ and a
distance x along the arc through which the mass moves. The gravitational force can be
resolved into two components, one along the radial direction, away from the point of
suspension, and one along the arc in the direction that the mass moves. The component of
the gravitational force along the arc provides the restoring force F and is given by

F = - mg sinθ……………. (3)

where g is the acceleration of gravity, θ is the angle the pendulum is displaced, and the
minus sign indicates that the force is opposite to the displacement. For small amplitudes

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where θ is small, sinθ can be approximated by θ measured in radians so that Equation (3)
can be written as
F = - mg θ…………………. (4)

The angle θ in radians is x/l, the arc length divided by the length of the pendulum or the
radius of the circle in which the mass moves. The restoring force is then given by
F = - mg x/l ………………... (5)

and is directly proportional to the displacement x and is in the form of Equation (1) where
k=mg/l. Substituting this value of k into Equation (2), the period of a simple pendulum can
be found by
T = 2π√ *m/ (mg/l)+ ………. (6)
T = 2π√ (l/g) ………………... (7)
Therefore, for small amplitudes the period of a simple pendulum depends only on its length
and the value of the acceleration due to gravity.

Experimental set up:

Set the simple pendulum in such a way that the length can be varied as shown below

0< θ <100

PROCEDURE: (measuring the period of a simple pendulum of constant mass)

(1) We displaced the bob in such a way that the string will make an angle between 00
and 100 with the vertical line through the equilibrium point for each length of the
string by using digital compass.

(2) As soon as it left its starting position, we started the stopwatch and recorded the
time for 10 complete oscillations.

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(3) We observed and recorded 3 trial times with the same bob mass m and string length
l.

(4) We decreased the length of the string l by 10cm and repeated the steps to get three
other trials.

(5) We followed the above step and kept recording until we reach the last length
required l that was 0.4m.

OBSERVATION:
Length (l) of the Time trial 1 Time trial 2 Time trial 3 Average time trial for 10
string (m) (sec) (sec) (sec) oscillations (sec)
1 20.45 20.16 20.30 20.30
0.9 19.22 19.26 19.29 19.257
0.8 18.19 18.28 18.26 18.24
0.7 16.91 17.05 17.24 17.067
0.6 15.51 15.46 15.49 15.487
0.5 14.50 14.57 14.77 14.61
0.4 12.27 12.76 12.45 12.49

DATA ANALYSIS:
The table below shows the value of the calculated data that includes the period of
oscillation (the time taken for one oscillation) which further gives us the acceleration due to
gravity g.

Length Average time for 10 Period T in Period T2 Acceleration due to Percentage

in meter oscillations in seconds in seconds gravity g in m/sec2 error (%)
seconds
1.0 20.30 2.030 4.121 9.58 2.34
0.9 19.257 1.9257 3.708 9.58 2.34
0.8 18.24 1.824 3.327 9.49 3.57
0.7 17.067 1.7067 2.913 9.49 3.57
0.6 15.487 1.5487 2.398 9.88 0.70
0.5 14.61 1.461 2.135 9.25 5.70
0.4 12.49 1.249 1.560 10.12 3.16

NOTE:We analyzed the collected raw data using the following basic expressions

(1) Average time = (trial 1 trial 2  trial 3) / 3

(2) Period of oscillations (T)= Average time / 10

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(3) Acceleration due to gravity (g)= 42 l / T2

(4) Average acceleration due to gravity (gav)= (g1+g2+g3+g4+g5+g6+g7 ) / 7

(5) Percentage error= [(theoretical value – actual value)/theoretical value] × 100% by

taking g=9.81 as the actual value.

(gav)= (g1+g2+g3+g4+g5+g6+g7 ) / 7

gav = (9.58 + 9.58 +9.49 + 9.49 + 9.88 + 9.25 + 10.12)/7.0

gav = 67.39/7.0
gav = 9.623 m/s2
 All number are rounded to the necessary significant figure.
 Signs for the percentage error shows the change of difference. Positive sign shows
increasement while negative sign shows reduction from the accepted value.

DISCUSSION:
1. Investigate how the period of the pendulum varies for different lengths of the
pendulum.

ANSWER: The period of pendulum is directly proportional to the string length. That is as
the length of pendulum increases, the period also increases.

2. Plot the graph T2 against L and find the value of acceleration due to gravity g from
the gradient (slope) of the graph- this will be equals to 4π2/g.

ANSWER:
2 2
The graph below represents T against l with a gradient of (4π )/g

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T2 against l
4.50

4.00

3.50

3.00

2.50

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

3. Discuss what the possible source of error could be in each method of determination
of g?

ANSWER:
The results of the experimental values and the theoretical value are a slight difference. The
reason for this is error made while experimenting.

Random error: the difference between each trial of the same length is caused by
fluctuation of judging the exact time the bob started oscillating and the time it reached its
10th oscillation.

Systematic error: are errors caused due to identified causes.

 Environmental: During the experiment, the slight movement of the table that the
string clamp was settled had an effect to the oscillation of the bob of the pendulum.
 Observational/parallax error: Even though we used digital compass on our phone,
we may not completely be on the right position to see whether the desirable one or
not.
 Instrumental: because of the table clamp movement we couldn’t measure the exact
value of the angle between the vertical line.

Blunder: While recording the length of the string, there might be a slight scale mistake
that would also take to absolute error. And because of all this reasons a difference between
the theoretical value and experimental value has occurred.

CONCLUSION:

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As we seen in the experiment, we have tested our hypothesis: “As the length of the string
which the bob is hanged on is shortened, the magnitude of the period for the simple
pendulum decreases,” and we found it true. Through our experiment we understood the
relation between period of pendulum with length and gravity.

In which we ended up for: “As the length l of the string which the bob is hanged on is
shortened, the magnitude of the period T for the simple pendulum decreases.” This is due
to the direct proportionality between length l of the string and the magnitude of the period
T for the simple pendulum. T = 2π√ (l/g) T α l
Our experimental value is the value we obtained from your experiment that is 9.6 m/s2
average. The theoretical value for gravity g is approximately 9.8 m/s2 because of our error
we didn’t get the experimental value similar with the theoretical value

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Reference:
first_semester_physics_lab_manual_2015.pdf (niser.ac.in)

Microsoft Word - SimplePendulum.doc (utk.edu)

The Simple Pendulum | Physics (lumenlearning.com)

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