Ultrasonic Pendulum NXT

Turn your NXT into a pendulum. To do this, suspend the NXT from a pair of strings, with the ultrasonic sensor anchored to the NXT and pointed down towards the floor. You will need to build a frame to hold the ultrasonic sensor against the NXT. Your contraption will have to be balanced so that the ultrasonic sensor is perpendicular to the floor, rather than hanging at an angle. Once you have built your pendulum device, use Investigator level 1 to program it. Log the ultrasonic sensor every 0.05 seconds for ten seconds. Download the program to your NXT. Suspend the pendulum device from the overhead support. Pull back the NXT, start the program running, and release the NXT. Let it swing back and forth for ten seconds. Upload the data to the computer. It should look something like this:

The time that a pendulum takes to complete one forward and back swing is called its period. Identify one complete period on your graph, starting from the first minimum where the ultrasonic sensor was nearest the floor. 1. How many maxima (high points) are included in one period? What points in the pendulums swing do they represent? 2. Identify three complete periods on your graph. pendulum to complete the three periods? How long did it take your

Copyright 2007, Physics by Design by Barbara Bratzel, College House Books

3. What is the period of your pendulum?

4. What is the advantage of averaging three swings to find the period rather than just using a single swing?

5. The frequency of a pendulum is the number of periods per second. It is measured in hertz (Hz). What is the frequency of your pendulum in hertz?

Does the length of the string affect the period of the pendulum? Design an experiment to find out. 6. Describe your procedure:

7. Make a data table to record your results:

8. What conclusion(s) can you reach based upon your data?

Copyright 2007, Physics by Design by Barbara Bratzel, College House Books

Teacher Information

Ultrasonic Pendulum NXT

The students use ultrasonic sensors to investigate pendulum periods.

The ultrasonic sensor is used to find the period of the pendulum by logging the distance from the NXT bob to the ground. Objectives 1. To design a frame for the ultrasonic sensor so that it can be used as a pendulum bob. 2. To use Investigator to log the ultrasonic sensor. 3. To find the period and frequency of a pendulum. 4. To investigate whether the length of the string affects the period of the pendulum. Materials NXT Computer Ultrasonic sensor and lead

Copyright 2007, Physics by Design by Barbara Bratzel, College House Books

LEGO parts String Ring stand or other support for the pendulum Ruler Time: Approximately 60 minutes Notes 1. The pendulum bob can be rigged a number of different ways. The important considerations are that the ultrasonic sensor is facing downward and that the pendulum swings without twisting. 2. Ring stands make good supports for the pendulum, since their heights can be easily adjusted for the string-length experiment. 3. Assuming that the angle at which a pendulum is released is relatively small, the period of the pendulum is governed by the relationship T = 2 [L / g]

where T is the period of the pendulum L is the length of the string g is the acceleration due to gravity.

Copyright 2007, Physics by Design by Barbara Bratzel, College House Books

Answers to Ultrasonic Pendulum NXT

1. There are two maxima in each pendulum period, one representing the swing to the right and the other the swing to the left. 2. Answers will vary. For the sample graph above, three periods took about 5.8 seconds. 4. Answers will vary. For the sample graph above, the period is about 1.9 seconds. 5. Taking the average of three periods gives you a larger data set and helps to reduce the effect of measurement error. 6. Answers will vary. The frequency of the sample pendulum is around 0.52 Hz. 7. Answers will vary. The students should test their pendulum with different length strings, attempting to keep all of the other variables constant. 8. Answers will vary. 9. Answers will vary. In general, the students should find that lengthening the string increases the period of the pendulum. The data will not be precise enough to allow them to find a quantitative relationship, but they should be able to discern a qualitative one.

Copyright 2007, Physics by Design by Barbara Bratzel, College House Books