Physics 141 Pendulum -- 1

The SIMPLE PENDULUM SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR I

GOAL: To experimentally determine which characteristics of a pendulum influence its period. To determine functional relationship between a periods period and its characteristics. the bob as a point mass located at the center of the bob. Then the radius of the bob would have to be added to the length of the string to obtain an effective length of the pendulum. This length helps to define angles that are important in the resolving forces so it could be important. Test #2 is to see if varying the effective length ( R + r) of the pendulum effects its period.

INTRODUCTION: Consider a simple pendulum consisting of a spherical object or bob suspended by a string. How would one describe such a pendulum? What characteristics of this pendulum can one measure? One could measure the mass of the bob, the diameter of the bob, the color of the bob, the length of the string, the diameter of the string, the mass of the string, the color of the string, and probably lots of other things. When the pendulum is in motion, one could measure the maximum angle to which the pendulum swings. The period, T, of a pendulum is the time it takes for the pendulum to complete one cycle, i.e., to return to the same position with the same velocity. For example, as the pendulum passes a point in its motion, swinging from right to left, start timing. Next, the pendulum passes the same point now swinging from left to right, but its velocity is the negative of the initial velocity. Finally, the pendulum passes the point again but this time swinging right to left so that it has the original velocity in both magnitude and direction, thus the cycle is completed and the timing of the period stops. Intuitively, what characteristics of the pendulum might affect its period. Color probably does not really change the system mechanically. If the diameter of the string is relatively small, this is probably not important. If the mass of the string is much smaller than the mass of the bob, then the mass of the string probably is not important. But the mass, m, of the bob enters into the equation of motion ( ) and may be important.

Figure 1

The pendulum.

There is the maximum angle, 2max that the bob swings through on each cycle. The larger the angle the greater the distance the bob travels for a given pendulum length so this probably has some effect on the period. Test #3 is to vary the maximum angle of the pendulum and see if the period varies. What happens if because of something odd in your release, the bob does travel back and forth along an arc but rather travels an oval path? Does this effect the period? Test #4 is to try oval paths.

Test #1: With all other things being equal, see if the mass of the bob effects the period. What about the diameter of the bob? If the diameter of the bob is small compared to the length of the string, then one might expect that one could treat

Try to determine the mathematical relationship between the period and any of these four variables the effect the period.

Physics 141 Pendulum -- 2

PROCEDURE: Initially, use the stop watch for measuring the period. Make Test #1, 2, & 3. It may be to your advantage to initially make these tests quickly, because there may be ranges for these parameters where the period varies rapidly. You may wish to avoid these regions when testing the other parameters. When working with small angles (less than 10) and smaller balls, you may wish to use the photogates. The suggested settings are: PENDulum mode., MEMory ON, and either 1 ms or 0.1 ms. DO NOT HIT THE PHOTOGATE WITH THE BOB! After general behavior of the period as a function of each parameter is known, then make detailed studies of the primary causes of variation. Use the nature of the linear and maybe a log-log plot to determine the functional relationship. Take enough data to make a reasonable estimate of your errors. Compare your results to eqs. 6 and 9. Determine the gravitational constant, g, using eq.10. WARNINGS: DO NOT USE the photogate and timer when taking preliminary data, working at angles greater than 10 or using heavy bobs. This is to avoid the problem of the bob hitting and damaging the photogate. Before using the photogate, practice to obtain a clean release of the bob, such that the path of the pendulum is in a plane rather than an ellipse. Pendulum stands may be at face and eye level, please be careful. Do not hit yourself or anyone else with the pendulum.

Equipment notes: When using a stopwatch to measure the period of the pendulum, measuring more than one (maybe ten) cycles and then dividing by the number of cycles may help reduce errors associated with your reflexes. When using the stopwatch for timing, Be careful not to count the initial half cycle as a full cycle. As the pendulum swings through the bottom of its swing and you start the stopwatch, be careful to start counting at zero and not one. Be careful that the string is clamped equally on both sides. Otherwise the length of the pendulum may be not longer on one side of the swing than the other.

ANALYSIS: A i. What are the uncertainties in timing the period for each different method used to measure it? How does reducing the uncertainties in measuring the period affect the uncertainty in the gravitational constant? A ii. Compare the quality of timing results for using the stopwatch and using the photogate and timer. The uncertainty in timing with the photogate is probably 100 times smaller than for using the stopwatch. Does your data indicate that this is true? Discuss. A iii. Consider the uncertainty in timing one period associated with the human reflex using a stopwatch. If the combined uncertainty for both starting and stopping the stopwatch is 0.2 seconds and one is timing a 0.5 second period, what is the relative uncertainty? If one times ten full cycles and then divides by ten, what is the uncertainty in one period caused by the 0.2 second timing uncertainty associated with the human reflex? Would timing one hundred cycles be even better? Why? A iv. How good is the approximation that sin(2) = 2 for the range of angles you measured? Compare sin(2) and 2 for 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25. From your data, what is the smallest angle that you can see deviation from the expected independence of period on maximum angle of swing.

EQUIPMENT: Long vertical support rod Pendulum clamping bar Table & rod clamps Stopwatch Timer & photogate Meter & ruler In room Balance ( triple beam) Various pendulum bobs String & scissors

Physics 141 Pendulum -- 3

THEORY I: Consider the free body diagram of the pendulum bob treated as a point mass, suspended by a massless string of zero diameter):

(4)

For small angles, sin(2) = 2, if one is using radians rather than degrees.

(5)

This equation has the general form of the simple harmonic oscillator equation, eq. 15, and has a solution:

Figure 2 The free body diagram for the bob. The resolution of the weight, w into components wx and wy is shown.
There is a radial acceleration parallel to the length of the string (x direction), so the sum of the forces along the x axis must be such that:

(6)

The period, P, is the time interval required for sin(Tt + 20 ) to complete one cycle, that is:

(7)

(1)
Or:

(8)
Perpendicular to the string the only force is wy, thus

(2)
Combine eq. 6 and 8 into an equation that expresses some power of the period, P, as a linear function of the effective length of the pendulum, Reff .

Next consider the torque about the point where the string is clamped. The distance from this point to the center of the bob is Reff = R + r, so the torque, J, and moment of inertia, I, about this pivot point are:

(9)

where n is some number.

(3)
Q i. Analysis of this problem begins with the rotational form of Newtons second law: Find the gravitational constant, g as a function of the slope, C in eq. 9:

(10)

Physics 141 Pendulum -- 4

(repeating the guessing game, if necessary). THEORY II General Simple Harmonic Oscillator Problem The simple harmonic oscillator is one of the central problems in physics. Many mechanic systems demonstrate simple harmonic motion. The same simple harmonic oscillation are involved in a large number of different circumstances including: sound, light, electrical circuits (such as LRC circuits that consists of an inductor, a capacitor, and a resistors in a loop), crystal lattice interactions, and quantum mechanical systems. Some systems that exhibit simple harmonic motion can be driven into chaotic motion so understanding the simpler motion is the first step in understanding the complexities of chaos. For mechanical systems, the theoretical understanding of simple harmonic motion begins with: Recall that:

(16)

Thus:

(17)

(11)
Note the similarity in form between eq. 15 and eq. 17. (Because sin( 2 + B/2 ) = cos(2), the two equations in eq.17 are in fact equivalent.) Eq.15 and 17 are the same if in eq. 15 one makes the following assignments:

and in one dimension this is:

(12)

(18)
In simple harmonic oscillator systems, the force, F, opposes the displacement but is proportional to the displacement, x, with the zero of the x position selected such that the force is zero at x = 0:

(13)

or:

(14)

where A is the maximum displacement. Eq. 19 is the solution for ALL simple harmonic oscillator problems. Usually one selects the zero point for the time, t, such that N0 = 0. All that remains is to know the value of the constant, C. Using eq. 18 with N0 = 0,as the solution to eq. 15 consider: Q ii. At what displacement, x, is the velocity, v, greatest? What is the acceleration, a, at this position?

Eq. 2 becomes:

(15)

Q iii. At what displacement is the acceleration greatest? What is the velocity at this position? Q iv. At what position is the force the greatest in magnitude.

which is a thing called a differential equation, and has a well known solution. Most of the time one solves a differential equation by remembering some function that behaves something like what you need, substituting this possible solution into the differential equation, and solving for any free parameters