Periodic & Circular Motion: Periodic Motion and Pendulums

Explore how the mass and the length of the pendulum affect the oscillation period of the pendulum.

Lab Summary:

At the heart of most grandfather clocks is a pendulum tuned to a very specific period. In addition to developing your students understanding of periodic motion and pendulums, they will gain insight about this mechanism that has kept time for centuries.

Your Students will measure the position of a pendulum bob while it is in motion enabling them to see the motion and motion graph unfold simultaneously. When a pendulum system is studied with a mass and spring system, they can be used to demonstrate that sinusoidal motion describes seemingly different physical systems.

Download Free Lab  (PDF, 280 KB)

(student version)

Method:

Use a Motion Sensor to measure the motion of a pendulum. Compare the period of oscillation when the mass or length of the pendulum is changed.

Here's What You Need:

Probeware

• PASPORT Motion Sensor (PS-2103)
• Xplorer GLX Graphing Datalogger (PS-2002)
  (or alternate PASPORT interface -- see other options)

Other Materials

• Universal Table Clamp (ME-9376B)
• Rod, 45 cm (18") Stainless Steel, 1/2" dia. (ME-8736)
• Clamp, Pendulum (SE-9443)
• Four-Scale Meter Stick (SE-8695)
• OHAUS Triple Beam Balance w/o Tare (SE-8723)
• Basic Calorimetry Set (TD-8557)
• Braided Physics String, 300 m (SE-8050)

Lab Manual:

This activity is included in Physics with the Xplorer GLX (PS-2826), complete with Teacher Information pages, student instructions and handouts, and sample data for a total of 35 probeware-based labs. For your convenience, we offer bundles which provide the probeware necessary for the activities in the manual. For more information on these resources and bundles, click here.