FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING
INITIALS & SURNAME: NS Ntshalintshali
STUDENT NUMBER: 202207881
MODULE CODE: 4PHY111
EXPERIMENT NO: 3
DUE DATE: 19 April 2022
EXPERIMENT 3
Title: USING A SIMPLE PENDULUM TO INVESTIGATE SIMPLE HARMONIC
MOTION AND TO DETERMINE THE ACCELERATIN DUE TO GRAVITY
Aim: To investigate how the harmonic motion period of a simple pendulum depends on
length, mass and amplitude of the swing and to find acceleration due to gravity.
Apparatus:
1. Retort stand
2. Ball
3. String
4. Stop watch
5. Ruler
6. Vernier calliper
Results:
L(cm) L(m) t20(s)
100 1 39.69 1.9845 3.93824025
90 0.9 37.85 1.8925 3.58155625
80 0.8 35.66 1.783 3.179089
70 0.7 33.56 1.678 2.815684
60 0.6 31.01 1.5505 2.40405025
50 0.5 28.09 1.4045 1.97262025
40 0.4 25.15 1.2575 1.58130625
30 0.3 21.88 1.094 1.196836
20 0.2 17.83 0.8915 0.79477225
10 0.1 12.65 0.6325 0.40005625
The graph of T2 versus L
T^2(s^2) v.s L(m)
4.5
4
f(x) = 3.96345286363636 x + 0.00652200000000036
3.5 R² = 0.99976512014314
2.5
Series2
T^2(S^2)
2 Linear (Series2)
1.5
0.5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
L (m)
Questions:
1. Use the graph gradient or slope (m ¿ to determine the value of g:
2
4π
g= =¿9.96
slope
2. What could be the possible error if any on the experiment that can cause the calculated
value of g to be not exactly be equal to 9.8 m/s2
The limits of human reaction when using the stopwatch
The limits of human eyesight in discerning the location of the centre of the dot created by
the spark timer
The dots created by the spark timer do not appear to be in a perfectly straight line,
indicating that the failing mass may have been swinging rather than failing straight down
Air resistance acting on the failing object may have decreased the acceleration rate,
producing experimental results lower than the accepted value for acceleration due to
gravity
Conclusion
The pendulum travers a longer distance in a shorter time and its period is shorter
The mass of the pendulum kept constant while the length of the string I varied. The
length is the manipulated variable, period (T) a responding variable while the mass of the
pendulum a fixed variable
The acceleration of gravity from the calculation was g= 9, 96. As the length of the string
increases, the period (T) of oscillation increases in pendulum method, the period of
oscillators is independent of the pendulum mas, but dependent of the square root of the
string length
The comparison between the actual and calculated acceleration due to gravity is 2% so
the experiment is successful and within the range
