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NAME
PERIOD
DATE
SIMPLE PENDULUM
Driving Question | Objective
What variables affect the period of a pendulum? Determine the physical properties of a simple
pendulum that affect its period.
Design and Conduct Your Experiment
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It is your group’s responsibility to design and conduct an experiment whose data will support your
answer to the driving question above. Use the answers to the guiding questions below to help guide
your experiment design. After you have answered the guiding questions, write an outline of the
equipment setup and procedure you will use to collect data, identifying the steps in sequence and the
points at which each piece of equipment will be used.
Suggested Materials and Equipment
Although you have the freedom to design your procedure using any reasonable equipment at your
disposal, the following equipment is recommended for your experimental setup.
• Data collection system
• Meter stick
• PASCO Smart Gate1 photogate
• PASCO Photogate Pendulum
• Table clamp or large base
• Support rod, 60 cm or taller
• Thread
m
• PASCO Pendulum
Clamp3
Set2
• Scissors
2www.pasco.com/ap10
3www.pasco.com/ap15
PASCO Smart Gate
PASCO Photogate
Pendulum Set
PASCO Pendulum
Clamp
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1www.pasco.com/ap21
Guiding Questions
1. How do you plan on constructing your simple pendulum? What will the bob be made out of, what
will the pendulum arm be made out of, and how will you anchor the pendulum arm?
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2. What are three physical properties of your pendulum that can be changed, that you believe will
affect the period of the pendulum?
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PASCO / PS-2848
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SIMPLE PENDULUM / GUIDED INQUIRY
3. How do you plan on changing each of these properties within your experiment? Explain the
process for changing each one.
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4. How would you assemble the equipment from the materials provided in preparation for making
measurements? Explain the important points regarding your setup, and explain how you plan to
measure the period of the pendulum.
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5. The experimental process generally involves changing one variable, keeping others constant
while recording data. For this experiment, which variables will you change and which variables
will be held constant?
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6. When making measurements of period, the pendulum should not be displaced by more than ~15°
before releasing it. Displacements greater than 15° may cause the period to be inconsistent. How
does this affect your experiment design?
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Experimental Design
Your goal is to experimentally determine what physical properties of a simple pendulum affect its
period of motion. Use the responses to the Guiding Questions to help finalize your procedure and
your equipment configuration.
Once you are convinced that your procedure will accomplish the experiment's objectives, record your
experimental setup and procedure in the following sections.
Setup
Draw and/or describe your experimental setup such that a third party could recreate the same setup
in an attempt to reproduce your experiment.
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PASCO / PS-2848
SIMPLE PENDULUM / GUIDED INQUIRY
Procedure
Outline the procedure you will use in your experiment, listing all of the steps below. Your outline
should be written such that a third party could follow the same procedure in an attempt to reproduce
your experiment.
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Collect Data
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Perform your experiment and record all relevant data. Present your data below (or in an attached
document) in a form that best suits the experiment format, such that a third party can understand
your experimental results in an attempt to reproduce them.
PASCO / PS-2848
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SIMPLE PENDULUM / GUIDED INQUIRY
Analysis Questions
1. For each part of your experiment, list each variable involved and state whether it was held
constant, increased, or decreased.
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2. In your experiment, what variables (physical properties) affected the period of a simple
pendulum and how did they affect the period?
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3. The mathematical equation describing the period Tp of a pendulum is:
Tp = 2p
l
g
(2)
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where l is the length of the pendulum arm and g is earth’s gravitational acceleration constant.
Does your data support this mathematical relationship? Justify your answer.
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Synthesis Questions
1. In 1851, French physicist Leon Foucault created an enormous pendulum designed to
demonstrate the rotation of the earth. The pendulum consisted of a 28.0 kg bob hung from a
67.0 m cable in the Pantheon in Paris, France. Given this information, what is the period of
oscillation for the pendulum? Show your work.
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PASCO / PS-2848
SIMPLE PENDULUM / GUIDED INQUIRY
2. If the maximum displacement θ0 of Foucault's pendulum bob while in motion is 0.0149 rad, what
is the maximum linear speed of the bob during its motion? What is the maximum momentum of
the bob? Show your work.
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3. One of two identical grandfather pendulum clocks from Earth is placed on Mars. If the
grandfather clock on Mars is 23 minutes behind the grandfather clock on Earth after 1 hour,
what is the acceleration due to gravity on Mars?
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4. The figure to the right shows a person holding a 4 kg
pendulum bob hanging from a 6-m long cable. The cable is
attached to the side of an over-hanging wall 3 m up from the
bottom of the wall. If the person lets go of the bob, how long
will it take for it to swing back to him?
PASCO / PS-2848
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