Experi m e n t 14 The Phy si c al Pen d ul u m

The period of oscillation of a physical pendulu m is found to a high degre e of accuracy by two metho d s : theory and experim e n t. The values are then comp ar e d.

Theory
For a rigid body that is constrain e d to rotat e about a fixed axis, the gravitation al torqu e about the axis is
= - Mgd sin ,

"1$

where M 1 = the mas s of the body, g = the accelera tion due to gravity, d = the distanc e from the axis of rotation to the center of mas s, and ! = the angular displace m e n t of the center of mass from equilibrium. "#efer to Figure 1.$ The mas s need not be continuous. %lso, the axis need not inters ec t the body.

Figure 1. #igid body rotating about a fixed axis.

The torqu e produc e s an angular acceler a tion according to the rotation al version of &ewton's (econd )aw:
2 = I = I d 2 ,

dt

" $

where I * = the mo m e n t of inertia of the body about the axis of rotation. +liminating , in "1$ and " $, the result is
2 d + Mgd sin = 0 . d t2 I

"3$

For sufficiently small oscillations about the equilibrium position "an angular displace m e n t of 7- caus e s an error of less than ..1/$, sin 0 may be replace d by 1 "assu ming 1. is expres s e d in radians$. 2ence, "3$ beco m e s the differential equa tion that describes simple harmo nic motion:
2 d + 2=0 , d t2

where the angular freque nc y of oscillation is

=
Mgd , I

which is mea s ur e d in radians per second. in cycles per second, or hert4, is thus
f = 1 2

The freque nc y, which is me a s u r e d

Mgd , I

since one cycle corres po n d s to 2 11 radians. The period is therefore

T = 2 I . Mgd

"!$

This formula can be chec5e d for the special cas e of a simple pendulu m, for 2 which I = M d 1 . 6n this case "!$ yields
T = 2 d , g

"*$

which is the correct result. +quation "!$ holds for any rigid body. 6n the experim e n t all of the

bodies have uniform mas s density. 6n this cas e T 13 and d 1! are indep e n d e n t of the value of density. 2ence, M 1* , d 1, , and I 1- can be deter min e d using an un5now n density7 this quantity will cancel when the expres sions for M 10 , d 11 , and I . are substitut e d into "!$. %ccording to the particular body, it may be convenien t not to use the volume density defined as
=
mass , volume

but rather the areal density, defined as

=
or the linear density, defined as
=

mass , area

mass . length

Appara t u s
o physical pendulu m o 5nife edg e o table clamp and upright o right8 angle clamp o met er stic5, vernier caliper, and9or ruler o stopw atc h +ach group will use a different pendulu m. shown in Figures and 3. The various pendulu m s are

Part I: De s cri p ti o n
:ive a clear and precise description of the body and the axis of rotation. ;ecaus e a high degre e of accuracy is required, carefully perform all length me a s u r e m e n t s to the near e s t fraction of a millimet er. ;ecaus e the body is homog e n e o u s , its mas s need not be mea s ur e d. "#efer to the Theory section.$ 6nclude a clearly labeled diagra m that contains all releva nt length me a s u r e m e n t s .

Figure

. <hysical pendulu m s shown with their various axes of rotation. The centers of mass can be deter mined by sym m e t r y.

Part II: Theor e t i c a l Perio d

=sing the length mea s ur e m e n t s in <art 6, deter min e the total mas s, M , in terms of the un5nown volume density, , areal density, 3 , or linear density, ! . "#efer to the Theory section.$ >eter min e the value of the distanc e, d * , from the axis of rotation to the cent er of mas s. 6n terms of the density that was chose n above, deter min e the mom e n t of inertia, I , , about the axis of rotation. Formulas for stand ar d mom e n t s of inertia, togeth e r with the parallel8 axis theor e m and the plane8 figure theor e m , should be used. (how all calculations clearly and complet ely. (tate any approxim a tion s. =sing "!$ comput e the theor e tical period of oscillation. The result should have an uncert ainty less than ..*/.

Part III: Experi m e n t a l Perio d

%ccurat ely mea s ur e the period of oscillation for small amplitud e s "less than This can be acco mplish e d by counting a large numb e r of oscillation "betw e e n *. and 1..$ and dividing the total time by the numb e r of oscillations. <erform at least three trials. The thre e values should deviat e from one anoth er by less than ..*/. >eter min e the avera g e period. ?learly display the raw data and the calculations.
7 - $.

Part IV: Resul t s

?learly display toget h e r the theor e tical and experim e n t al values of the period of oscillation in a results table. >eter min e the perce nt a g e error. This should be less than roughly ..*/. 6f the error is equ al to or great er than 1/, at least one mista5 e has been mad e. ?hec5 the mea s ur e m e n t s and the calculations. )ocate and eliminat e the error"s$.

Que s t i o n s
1$ 6f the amplitud e is large, will the resulta n t period be great e r than, less than, or equal to the period for small amplitud e s @ +xplain. $ 6n gener al, if the entire mas s of a physical pendulu m is imagine d to be moved to the cent er of mas s, will the period of this simple pendulu m be great e r than, less than, or equal to the original period@ +xplain. 3$ 6n gener al, if the entire mas s of a physical pendulu m is imagine d to

be move d to a position equ al to the radius of gyration away from the axis of rotation, will the period of this simple pendulu m be great e r than, less than, or equal to the original period@ +xplain.