Experiment 4

Kater’s Pendulum

1 Apparatus:
Kater’s Pendulum with attachable weights, stopwatch, meter scale.
2 Purpose of experiment:
To determine an accurate value for acceleration due to gravity (𝑔) in the lab.
3 Basic Methodology:
To use compound pendulum's time period and a fixed pendulum length and calculate 𝑔. Time
period and fixed length can be measured with relatively better accuracy compared to the length
of simple pendulum, where one needs to know the length between point of suspension to the
centre of mass of the bob.

1 Theory
In simplest case one determines 𝑔 from the measurement of the time period of a simple
pendulum. In ideal case one needs to make a point-mass pendulum connected in a weightless
string to fixed point support. Practically this is difficult condition to achieve. Henry Kater devised
a method in the early nineteenth century. In his method, he constructed a compound pendulum,
which he oscillated about a knife-edge, then turned upside down and oscillated about a knife-
edge on the other side of the centre of mass (CM). If the two periods are made equal by adjusting
the weights on the pendulum, 𝑔 can be determined from only the period and the distance
between the two knife edges. Essentially, use of the parallel axis theorem for the moment of
inertia of a rigid body allows us to avoid approximating a point mass on a massless string. When
the period of the pendulum is identical when swung from either pivot point, the equation for g
is identical to that of a simple pendulum with length equal to the distance between the pivot
points. Since this length is measurable to a high degree of accuracy, this permits a very precise
Experiment 4. Kater’s Pendulum

determination of the local value of 𝑔. This method was used in the 1930’s to determine the value
of 𝑔 in Washington as 9.80080 ± 0.00003 m/s2, which is accurate to within 1/1000th of a percent.
The gravity exerts a torque 𝜏 on the compound pendulum:

𝜏 = −𝑀𝑔𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃), (1)
where 𝑀 is the mass of the object, 𝜃 is the deviation from the vertical, and 𝑑 is the distance from
the centre of mass to the point about which it is oscillated. The negative sign comes from the fact
that in this case gravity is a restoring force. But 𝜏 = 𝐼0 𝛼, where 𝐼0 is moment of inertia about the
𝑑2 𝜃
point of oscillation and 𝛼 is the angular acceleration (= ). For small angle of deviation, one
𝑑𝑡 2
can approximate 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃) ≈ 𝜃. This gives the equation of motion as:

𝑑2 𝜃 𝑀𝑔𝑑
+( ) 𝜃 = 0, (2)
𝑑𝑡 2 𝐼0

which has a solution as:

𝑀𝑔𝑑
𝜃 = 𝜃𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin (√ 𝑡). (3)
𝐼0

The time period for this oscillation is:

0 𝐼
𝑇 = 2𝜋√𝑀𝑔𝑑 . (4)

The experimental setup is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The schematic of Kater’s pendulum.

It is known from the parallel axis theorem that the moment of inertia of an object about an axis
parallel to an axis through its centre can be written as:

2
 PHYSICS LABORATORY MANUAL

𝐼0 = 𝐼𝑐 + 𝑀𝑅 2 , (5)
where 𝐼𝑐 is the moment of inertia about center of mass, 𝑅 is the distance from the axis of 𝐼0 to
the center of mass. Taking 𝐼1 as the moment of inertia about 𝐾1 and 𝐼2 as the moment of inertia
about 𝐾2 , one gets:

𝐼 +𝑀𝑙2
𝑇1 = 2𝜋√ 𝑐𝑀𝑔𝑙 1 , (6)
1

and

𝐼 +𝑀𝑙2
𝑇2 = 2𝜋√ 𝑐𝑀𝑔𝑙 2 . (7)
2

If the weights on the pendulum can be adjusted such that 𝑇1 = 𝑇2 , then one has:

𝐼𝑐 +𝑀𝑙12 𝐼𝑐 +𝑀𝑙22
𝑀𝑔𝑙1
= 𝑀𝑔𝑙2
, (8)

and

𝐼𝑐 (𝑙1 − 𝑙2 ) = 𝑀𝑙1 𝑙2 (𝑙1 − 𝑙2 ), (9)

or

𝐼𝑐 = 𝑀𝑙1 𝑙2. (10)

This gives:

𝑙 +𝑙 𝐿
𝑇1 = 𝑇2 = 𝑇 = 2𝜋√ 1 𝑔 2 = 2𝜋√𝑔. (11)

One can see that 𝑙1 and 𝑙2 individually have disappeared and only the sum 𝐿 = 𝑙1 + 𝑙2 occurs in
the equation for period. Thus, one concludes that, if the masses are adjusted such that the two
time periods are very nearly the same, then 𝑔 will be determined primarily by the sum of the
periods and the distance between the two knife-edges with weak dependence on the differences
in the lengths and periods. The distance between the two knife-edges, can be measured to a
fraction of a millimeter.
By solving equations (6) and (7) for 𝐼𝑐 , equating the results, and expressing the final result in
terms of the differences and sums of the distances 𝐼1 , 𝐼2 and periods 𝑇1 , 𝑇2 one can find that:

8𝜋 2
𝑔 = 𝑇2+𝑇2 2 2 . (12)
1 2 +𝑇1−𝑇2
𝑙1 +𝑙2 𝑙1 −𝑙2

This relation was derived by Friedrich Bessel (son of W. Bessel who is known for his Bessel
functions) in 1826. If 𝑇1 = 𝑇2 = 𝑇 and (𝑙1 − 𝑙2) is large, then the second term in the denominator

3
Experiment 4. Kater’s Pendulum

will be extremely small, allowing one to determine 𝑔 quite accurately from 𝑔 = 8𝜋 2 𝐿/𝑇 2 . In the
present experiment, to ensure that (𝑙1 − 𝑙2) is large, one uses a wooden weight on one side and
metallic weight on the other side.

2 Experimental Procedure (Setup supplied by OSAW)

1. Determine the middle point of the rod and fix the smaller metal weight 𝑊 there. Fix the
wooden weight 𝑊1 near one end of the Katers pendulum (5 cm from end 1) and the knife edge
𝐾1 just below it (at a distance of about 2 cm).
2. Adjust the metallic weight 𝑊2 and the knife edge 𝐾2 at the other end (end 2) of the
pendulum with the same symmetry. The metallic and wooden weights are placed at different
ends to eliminate viscous drag of air and to make the centre of mass (CM) asymmetrical about
the knife edges. Screw all the five tightly.
3. Knife edges must be sharp, horizontal and parallel to each other so that the oscillations
are confined to a vertical plane. Suspend the pendulum vertically about 𝐾1 . Set it oscillating with
amplitude of about 4-5 degrees for the motion to remain simple harmonic. Note the time for 30
oscillations using a stop watch.
4. Now suspend the pendulum vertically about 𝐾2 and repeat step 3. This time will be quite
different from that about 𝐾1 .
5. Keep moving 𝐾1 and 𝐾2 towards 𝑊 by small distance (say 1 cm) and repeat steps 3 and 4
till the difference in time about 𝐾1 and 𝐾2 is less than one second.
6. Now, move the weight 𝑊 and repeat step 5 to reduce the time difference to about 0.05
second.
7. The apparatus is ready to record the measurements. Suspend the pendulum about 𝐾1 and
𝐾2 vertically and record the time taken for 30 oscillations. Repeat this 5 times each.
8. Remove the pendulum from support and place it horizontally on a wedge. Balance it and
find the CM of the system.
9. Measure the distances 𝑙1 and 𝑙2 from CM to the knife edges 𝐾1 and 𝐾2 .
10. Complete your lab report, upload it and disassemble the apparatus before leaving the lab.

3 Exercises and Viva Questions

1) Suppose both the weights were identical. Then, by placing the knife edges and weights
symmetrically around the centre of the rod, you would get 𝑇1 = 𝑇2 without any effort! Why is
that not done?
2) Suppose the two weights were of the same metal (instead of metal and wood) but of
different sizes to make them unequal. What would be the problem in this case?

4
 PHYSICS LABORATORY MANUAL

3) What are the dominant sources of uncertainty in your calculations of 𝑔 and the possible
corrections to them?
4) How is the accuracy of this experiment dependent on the size of the pendulum? What
would you have to do to get results of the same quality for a pendulum 1/10 the size of the one
in lab?

4 Some interesting information about Kater’s Pendulum:

1) Kater's pendulums were extensively used in the “Great Trigonometric Survey of India”
carried out by the British East India Company in the 19 th century. It was in this survey that the
world came to know that the highest mountain peak in the world is in the Himalayas (Mt. Everest
or Sagarmatha, in Nepal).
2) Kater applied several corrections for sources of error like 1) amplitude of swing, 2) change
in length due to thermal expansion, 3) buoyancy of the air, etc.
3) With these corrections, he used his pendulum to determine the length of a “seconds
pendulum” (𝑇 = 2.00 𝑠) to be 39.1386 inches (in London) to give 𝑔 = 9.81158 m/𝑠 2 . The value
9.81 m/𝑠 2 used in text books is actually the value for London latitude (51.5o)!
4) Kater’s pendulum was used as a secondary standard to define a “meter” (or “yard”) for
many years.

5 References
1) An Introduction to Mechanics, D. Kleppner and R. J. Kolenkow, Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 2007.
2) D. Candela, K. M. Martini, R. V. Krotkov, and K. H. Langley, Bessel’s improved Kater
pendulum in the teaching lab, Am. J. Phys. 69, 714 (2001).
3) Wikipedia (for Historical background part).