Title : Period of a simple pendulum

Aim : To investigate how the period of simple pendulum varies with -

a) length
b) mass
Variables :
Manipulated – a) length of pendulum
b) mass of pendulum
Responding - period of pendulum
Constant – gravitational acceleration, g

Setup :

Procedure :

A. Length of pendulum

1. Attach a small metal ball (called a bob) to a piece of string of 60cm ,and suspend it as shown in
the figure above.

2. Pull the bob a small distance to one side and release it so that it oscillates to an fro through a small
angle.

3. Find the time for the bob to make 10 complete oscillations using a stopwatch
  One complete oscillation/cycle is from
C to B to A to B to C
 The time for one oscillation is the
period T.
 The frequency f of the oscillations is
the number of complete oscillations
per second , 1/T.

4. Repeat the timing a few times for the same number of oscillations and work out the average.
5. Steps 1- 4 are repeated with string length of 40cm and 20 cm.
6. Record your results in the table given below.
7. Using graph paper, plot a graph of T2 versus l . Draw a best fit line

Length of Time taken for 10 Period of T2

string, l / cm oscillation, t (s) oscillation (s2 )
t1 t2 Average, t T
60.0

40.0

20.0

B. Mass of the pendulum

1. Attach a small metal ball (called a bob) of 100g to a piece of string of 20cm ,and suspend it as
shown in the figure above.

2. Pull the bob a small distance to one side and release it so that it oscillates to an fro through a small
angle.

3. Find the time for the bob to make 10 complete oscillations using a stopwatch.
4. Repeat the timing a few times for the same number of oscillations and work out the average.
5. Steps 1- 4 are repeated with mass of pendulum of 200g.
6. Record your results in the table given below.

Mass of Time taken for 10 Period of T2

pendulum, oscillation, t (s) oscillation (s2 )
,m/g t1 t2 Average, t T
100.0

200.0