Fariha Jahin

Class 903-Physics
June 04, 2014

Pendulum Lab Report

The lab questions that we were working on is "Does amplitude affect the period
of a pendulum" and "Does length affect the period of a pendulum." Amplitude is the
angle of displacement for pendulum and period is the time for one oscillation. This is a
lab that replicates Newton's method of measuring the time it took for sound to travel.
Instead of measuring sound, we are measuring the period of a pendulum based on it's
amplitude and length.

Hypothesis:
If the amplitude and length is large, then the period will be longer.

Materials:
~ Stopwatch
~ Protractor
~ Pendulum
~ A place to record your data.

Procedures:

Does amplitude affect the period of a pendulum procedure:

1. Using a protractor, put the pendulum at a 20 amplitude (70 angle).
2. With that angle, let the pendulum go and have someone, or yourself, measure the
period, which is the time for one oscillation (one cycle).
3. Repeat steps one and two but with different amplitudes.
4. Do four trials for each amplitudes.

Does length affect the period of a pendulum procedure:

1. Gather your materials. (pendulum, timer, recorder)
2. Measure the length of the string.
2. Using a protractor, put the pendulum at 30.
3. Let it go and time the period.
4. Do steps two and three, four times.
5. Make the length of the pendulum shorter by holding the part of the string that you
don't need.

Results:

Data Table for Amplitude:

Amplitude 20 30 50
Tial 1 (sec) 0.81 0.87 0.82
Trial 2 (sec) 0.81 0.94 0.91
Trial 3 (sec) 0.90 0.88 1.03



Data Table for Length:


Length Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
20 in 1.03 1.28 1.15
10 in 0.97 0.85 0.97
7 in 0.75 0.75 0.81




Conclusion:

According to my data, amplitude does affect the period of a pendulum. When the
amplitude is large, the period would be longer and when the amplitude is small, the
period would be smaller. The greatest amplitude we used was 50 degrees. The periods
that we calculated were 0.82, 0.92, and 1.02 (in seconds). The lowest amplitude we
used was 20 degrees and the periods for that was 0.81, 0.81, and 0.90. The data is
saying that the larger the amplitude, the longer the period and the smaller the
amplitude, the shorter the period.

The length affects the period of the pendulum. In the data that I have collected,
the largest length we used was 20 inches. The period for that length was 1.03, 1.28,
and 1.15 (in seconds). THe smallest length was 7 inches and the period for those was
0.75, 0.75, and 0.81. Based on this data, I can conclude that if the length is short, then
the period will be shorter and if the length is long, then the period will be longer.