This week in class we learned about pendulums and how different factors affect the period of it. We set up an experiment that allowed us to observe periods and how factors affect it. Here is a picture of a clock in my grandmas kitchen. Inside of the clock there was a pendulum hanging. In class we learned that neither mass nor angle affects the period of a pendelum. The thing hay affects the period of the pendulum is the length of it. The longer the pendulum the longer the period. From, looking at this clock I can assume that the period of its pendulum would be much shorter then a pendulum measuring 12 inches. In fact the pendulum's period for one full swing was not even a second. It is pretty interesting being able to understand something like this, and to see how things work. Before we started the activity we made predictions and I had predicted that longer pendulums would create shorter periods. I now know that I was absolutely incorrect. This experiment was glimpse of physics and how things aren't always what they seem. Wouldn't it seem logical for a heavier mass to make something swing longer? But through this experiment I learned that it wasn't.
I like how you used the clock as your example. I think this is absolutely relevant to the period of a pendulum lab we are did in class.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations, in our group's lab the angle affected the pendulum very slightly but the affects of the angle increased the more times the pendulum swung. I like the example of the clock because the period of the pendulum is exactly two seconds.
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