PH102 LAB REPORT 2018

NAME: Wallace Kito

ID#: s11152653
PARTNER’S NAME: Tokoia Ruoikabuti
DATE: 03/09/2018
WEEK: 5
EXPERIMENT#: 2

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TITLE: THE COMPOUND PENDULUM

INTRODUCTION

AIM
To investigate the behavior of a compound pendulum and in particular to use the data of its behavior to
find the values of “g” and “k” (the radius of gyration).
APPARATUS:
-A metal bar of length 1 meter, with holes drilled at equal intervals.
-A knife edge support of the bar, which will be used as the axes of rotation.
-1 stop watch
-A meter ruler
-Electronic mass balance
-and Vernier caliper
METHOD
For the procedure, refer to pages 6 and 7 of the PH102 lab manual.

INTRODUCTION
“A compound pendulum is a rigid body swinging in a vertical plane about any horizontal axis passing
through the body.” (F, 1993. p 2) it is the real life application of the simple pendulum, like for instance, a
clock, each hand moves freely or circulating vertically about the axis of rotation. The mathematical
expression for the behavior of an actual pendulum must account for the rotational inertia of its various
parts. When the amplitude of oscillation is small, the expression takes the form:

T =2 π
√ K 2 +h 2
gh
Where T – period, K-radius of gyration, h-displacement from the

center of mass the axis of rotation and g-gravitational acceleration.

The Radius of Gyration of a mass M about a given axis is a distance k from the axis. At this distance k an
equivalent mass is thought of as a Point Mass. The moment of inertia of this Point Mass about the original
axis is unchanged. The moment of inertia I of the a body, can then be given as,
2
I =M K

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1

Mass (M) 0.88 ± 0.01 Kg

Length (L) 0.96 ± 0.1 m
Width (W) 0.012 ± 0.01 m
Moment of inertia (I) 0.062 ± 0.02
Kgm2

 Calculation for moment of inertia “I”.

L2 +W 2
I =M (
12 )
(0.96 ± 0.1)2 +(0.012± 0.01)2
I =(0.88± 0.01) ( 12 )
I =¿ (0.88 ± 0.01¿ ( (0.92 ± 0.01)+(0.00014
12
± 0.0001)
)
I =( 0.88 ± 0.01 ) ( (0.92+0.00014)+(0.01+0.0001)
12 )
I =¿ ( 0.88 ± 0.01 ) ( (0.9201412± 0.0101) )
[( 0.88 ± 0.01 ) ( 0.92014 ± 0.0101 )]
I =( )
12

[( 0.8 × 0.92014 ) ± ( 0.01+ 0.0101 ) ]

I =( )
12

0.74
¿
(¿ 12 ¿ )±(0.0201)
¿
I=¿
I =(0.062± 0.02) Kgm2

 Calculating the theoretical value for “K”

√ √
2
I 0.062 Kgm
I=MK2 K= K= K=0.27 m
M 0.88 Kg

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Table 2

Time for 30 oscillations Mean time for Period

h (m) Time 1 (s) Time 2 (s) Time 3 (s) 30 oscillations T (s)
+- m +- s +- s +- s s +- s
0.50 48.19 48.25 48.16 48.20 1.61
0.45 47.39 47.42 47.21 47.34 1.58
0.40 46.25 46.31 46.28 46.28 1.55
0.35 45.74 46.06 45.02 45.61 1.52
0.30 44.60 45.07 45.34 45.00 1.50
0.25 46.01 46.51 46.60 46.37 1.55
0.20 48.25 48.75 48.83 48.61 1.62
0.15 54.05 54.28 54.33 54.22 1.81

Table 3

h (m) T (s) T2 (s2) T2 h (s2) h2 (m2)

+- m +- s +- s2 +- s2m +- m2
0.50 1.61 2.60 1.30 0.25
0.45 1.58 2.50 1.13 0.20
0.40 1.55 2.37 0.95 0.16
0.35 1.52 2.31 0.81 0.12
0.30 1.50 2.25 0.68 0.09
0.25 1.55 2.40 0.60 0.06
0.20 1.62 2.60 0.52 0.04
0.15 1.81 3.28 0.49 0.02

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 A graph of T2h Vs h2 of a compound pendulum
1.4

1.3

1.2
1.13

1
0.95

0.81
0.8
T 2h (s2)

0.68

0.6
0.6

0.52
0.49

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

h2 (m2)

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Calculating the gradient and its absolute uncertainty.
: This is the upper gradient, A ; : This is the lower gradient, B

(1.275−1.2) (1.25−1.16)
m A= =3.75 mB = =2.57
( 0.24−0.22) (0.24−0.205)

: This is the experimental gradient, C.

T2 h (1.1−0.62)
m= 2 mc = ¿ 4.36
h (0.18−0.07)

Absolute uncertainty “g” =

[( mc −m A ) +(mc −mB)
2 ] [ ( 4.36−3.75 ) +(4.36−2.57)
2 ] = 1.2

= 1 x 101 x 1.2 = ± 0.12 (This is the absolute uncertainty for the gradient)

Determining absolute uncertainty for the Y-intercept.

: Upper Y-intercept, A ; : lower Y-intercept, B

C A =0.35 C B=0.4

: This is the experimental Y- intercept, C.

C c =0.38

Absolute uncertainty “K”=

[( C c −C A ) +(Cc −C B )
2 ] [ ( 0.38−0.35 ) +( 0.38−0.4 )
2 ] = ± 0.005

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Calculating the gravity force (‘g”) using the slope of the linear graph.
¿
2 2 2
2
T h=
4π 2
g ( ) (
h +¿
4π k
g )
4 π2
m=
g ( )
; m=4.36

4 π2 4π2
4.36= g=¿
g 4.36
g=( 9.05± 1.2 ) × 101

g=( 0.905± 0.12 ) ×10−1 m/s2

Calculating the radius of gyration (“k”) using the y-intercept from the linear graph.

4 π 2 k2
C= ( g )
; C=0.38 ± 0.005

0.38=¿
4 π2 k2
9.05
k=
√ ( 0.38× 9.05)
4 π2
k =0.30 ±0.005 m

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 A graph of T Vs h of a compound pendulum
2

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2
T (s)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55

h (m)

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DISCUSSION

The behavior of the compound pendulum was observed by varying the radial length while recording the
period. Though we have followed the appropriate procedures and have successfully completed the task,
there are some experimental uncertainties associate with our results. The main suggested factor is
inconsistency in time-keeping (start and stop time) and the angle of swing (amplitude) for each trials of 30
oscillations. The linear graph shows a direct proportionality between period (T) and radial length (h), and is
used to determine the value for “g” and “K” using its slope and y-intercept. The absolute uncertainty of the
line is found as shown above, this is because some points are not close to the best fit line. The
experimental value for gravity is 9.05 m/s along with a ± 1.2 absolute uncertainty ((0.905±0.12) × 101m/s2)
compared to the accepted value of 9.81 m/s2. This therefore indicates that this method has 13.5%
inefficiency or 86.5% accuracy in determining the value for gravity, even though it best represent the
behavior of a compound pendulum. Unlike the radius of gyration “k”, there is a slight difference between
the experimental value, 0.30± 0.005 and the theoretical value, 0.27m. The second graph is a parabola and it
describes the relationship between “g” and “k”, how they influence the behavior of the pendulum. The
shape of the graph represents the decrease in period for the intervals 0.5m-0.3m and increases after that
instant from 0.25m-0.15m. This is because at the middle of “h”, there is more weight force acting
downwards on the reference point which tend to oppose the restoring force which increases the period.

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QUESTIONS

−(−2.60 ) ± √ (−2.60)2−4 (4.36)(0.38)

a) h=
2(4.36)

2.60 ± √ 0.1328 2.60− √0.1328 2.60+ √ 0.1328

h= h1= ; h2=
8.72 8.72 8.72

h1=0.265 ; h2=0.40

b) The two values of h for the arbitrarily chosen value of T are: h1= 0.25m and h2 = 0.40m. Using the
equation in part (a), k =√ h1 h 2 , the “K” can be calculated as shown below:

k =√ ( 0.25 )( 0.40 ) k =0.32± 0.005 m

There is a slight difference between this ‘K’ value and that obtained in step (6) (experimental value
of 0.30 ± 0.005 m¿ , compared to the theoretical value of 0.27m.

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CONCLUSION

To conclude, this experiment has shown that it is possible to determine the value for gravitational force and
radius of gyration by observing the behavior of the compound pendulum through the data obtained from
the period of oscillations in relation different radial lengths. The observations are tabulated and
represented on graphs as shown above. The experimental value for gravity is (0.905 ± 0.12) × 101 m/s2
which shows a fair accuracy to its theoretical value of 9.81 m/s 2. And the value for the radius of gyration is
0.30 ± 0.005 with a slight difference to the accepted value of 0.27. The absolute uncertainties associate
with the result indicates further improvements in terms of consistency with our observation.

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REFERENCE
Frazor, S. 1993, ‘A comparison of the Experimental Properties of a Compound Pendulum with Simple
Theory’, p2, accessed on Thursday 2nd of March, 2018,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237423723_A_Comparison_of_the_Experimental_Properties_o
f_a_Compound_Pendulum_with_Simple_Theory

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