NUST COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

EXPERIMENT # 1 Radius of Gyration of a Compound Pendulum

OBJECTIVE

Find the radius of gyration of compound pendulum by varying time period and position of center
of gravity and compare with theoretical one.

APPARATUS

The compound pendulum consists of a 12.7 mm diameter steel rod and 0.762 m length. The rod
is supported on the cross member B1 by an adjustable knife-edge which when move along the
rod, effectively alters the value of ‘h’.

Figure No. 1 The compound pendulum consists of a rigid steel rod

PROCEDURE

1. The center of gravity of the rod is firstly measured and is equal to l/2 where l is the length
of the rod.
2. The knife-edge is tightened at a given value of l1 from one end and the rod is suspended
by placing the knife-edge on the cross beam and ensuring that it swings freely without
any rotation at the support.
3. The time for, say 50 oscillations is then taken, having displaced the pendulum through a
small angle, from which the periodic time T may be calculated.
4. In order to perform a subsequent test, the knife-edge is slackened off and moved along
the rod to a new position. It is found most convenient to remove the pendulum from the
 NUST COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

crossbeam and to do any adjustment away from the portal frame. Having performed
several tests, value of K can
5. be calculated using the value of h and T subsequently compared to theoretical values of
K.

OBSERVATION AND CALCULATIONS

Total length of rod =

Center of gravity =

S/no. L (m) h (m) Kexp (m) Kth (m) Error

𝐿
𝐾
2√3

𝐾 ℎ
𝑇 2𝜋
𝑔ℎ