Experimental Report 4

PENDULUM OSCILLATION WITH PC INTERFACE

I. Purpose of experiment
Determinating gravitational acceleration value
Understanding how to use the modulum to calculate this and how the harmonic
oscillation work.
II. Theoretical background

Fig. 1. Pendulum with vertical oscillation

plane
As a good approximation, the pendulum used here can be treated as a mathematical
(simple) one having mass m and a length l. When pendulum mass m is deviated to
a small angle γ, a retracting force acts on it to the initial balanced position (Fig.1):
F (γ )=−mg⋅ sin ⁡γ ≈−mg ⋅γ (1)

If one ensures that the amplitudes remain sufficiently small while experimenting,
the movement can be described by the following differential equation:
2
d γ
I 2
=−gγ (2)
dt

The solution of eq.(2) can be written as follows:

(√ gl t )
γ =γ 0 sin ⁡sin ⁡ (3)
This is a harmonic oscillation having the amplitude 0 and the oscillation period
T.

T =2 π
√ l
g
( 4)

Fig. 2. Pendulum with inclined oscillation

plane
If one rotates the oscillation plane around the angle θ with respect to the vertical
plane as shown in Fig.2, the components of the acceleration of gravity g(θ) which
are effective in its oscillation plane are reduced to g(θ) = g.cosθ, that is only the
force component mg.sinγ.cosθ is effective and the following is obtained for the
oscillation period:

T =2 π
√ l
g cos ⁡(θ)
(5)

In this experiment you will perform the investigation of the harmonic oscillation of
mathematical pendulum in two cases to see how the gravitational acceleration
depends on its length and the inclined angle based on equation (4) and (5).
III. Experimental procedure
1. Cobra Interface
The Cobra3-Basic-Unit is an interface for measuring, controlling and regulating in
physics and technology. It can be operated with a computer using serial USB
interface and suitable software corresponding to the certain sensor. In this case it is
translation/rotation recorder. All functional and operating elements are on the front
plate or on the side walls of the instrument as can be seen in Fig. 3a. The electric
connection of the movement sensor is carried out according to Fig. 3b for the
COBRA interface. The thread runs horizontally and is lead past the larger of the
two thread grooves of the movement recorder.
2. Pendulum with vertical oscillation plan
a. Preparation
Set up the experiment according to Fig. 4 such that the oscillating plane runs
vertically.
Start the MEASURE software written for COBRA interface. The COBRA window
is appeared for setting measuring parameters according to Fig. 5. The diameter of
the thread groove of the movement recorder is entered into the input window d0
(12 mm are set as a default value). In the first part of the experiment (thread
pendulum), d1 is the double length of the pendulum in mm, that is, the diameter of
the circle describedby the centre of gravity of the pendulum. In this case, the
measured deviations of the pendulum sphere are indicated directly in rad. If
measurements are carried out with the g pendulum, 12 is entered for d1 (d1 = d0),
because the pendulum is now coupled 1:1 with the movement measuring unit. If
the values (50 ms) in the ”Get value every (50) ms” dialog box are too high or too
low, noisy or non-uniform measurements can occur. In this case adjust the
measurement sampling rate appropriately. The button must then be pressed. A new
measurement can be initiated any time with the button, the number of measurement
points “n” is reset to zero. In total, about n = 250 measurement values are recorded
and then the button is pressed.
b. Investigation for various pendulum lengths
Step 1: Choose an arbitrary pendulum length (may be 400 mm or 500 mm). Note
that the pendulum length l was the distance of the centre of the supported mass
from the centre of the rotational axis.
Step 2: Move the 1-g weight holder, which tenses the coupling thread between the
pendulum sphere and the movement sensor, manually downward and the release it.
Set the pendulum in motion (small oscillation amplitude) and click on the ”Start
measurement” icon. After approximately 5 oscillations click on the ”Stop
measurement” icon, a graph similar to Fig. 6 appears on the screen. Determine the
duration of a period with the aid of the cursor lines, which can be freely moved and
shifted onto the adjacent maxima or minima of the oscillation curve. Record the
measurement result in a data sheet.
Step 3: Do the measurement for 5 times to get the average value of the oscillation
period.
Step 4: Repeat the measurement with different pendulum lengths (500mm and
600mm or 600mm and 700mm).
c. Pendulum with inclined oscillation plan
Step 1: Make the arrangement of the experimental set-up as Fig. 7. The scillation
plane is initially vertical or 0°. Let the pendulum to vibrate with its small deflection
angle. Record the duration of one period in the second data table, then repeat the
measurement for more 4 times at this position.
Step 2: Rotate the vibration plane to be inclined at 25° and perform the
measurement procedure similar Step 1.
Step 3: Repeat again the measurement with inclined plane corresponding θ = 35°,
45°, and 60°. Each angle is also 5 times of measurement.
I/Experimental result

1)Pendulum with vertical oscillation plane

L1= 0.300 (m) L2= 0.400 (m) L3= 0.500 (m)

Trial
T1 (s) T2 (s) T3 (s)
1 1.166 1.327 1.482
2 1.186 1.344 1.496
3 1.157 1.327 1.483
4 1.159 1.327 1.475
5 1.151 1.324 1.479
 T 1=1.164(s)
T 2=1.330(s) T 3=1.483(s)

√ √ √
5

∑ (T ¿¿ i−T )2 5

∑ (T ¿¿ i−T )
2
5

∑ (T ¿¿ i−T )2
ⅈ =1
Δ T 1= ≈ 0.012(s)¿ ⅈ =1 l̇=1
5 ∆ T 2= 3=
≈ 0.007Δ(sT)¿ ≈ 0.007 (s)¿
5 5

a)For L1:
b)For L2:
For L3:

* Determination of the oscillation period of a thread pendulum as a function

of the pendulum length:

Pendulum with vertical oscillation plane: T =2 π l (s)

√ g

( )
2
2π (
m∕s)
2
→ g=l
T

a.L1=0.300 (m)

( ) ( )
2 2
2π 2 ×3.141
=8.741 ( m ∕ s )
2
g1=L1 =0.300
T1 1.164

√( )( )( )
∆ T 1 2 ∆ l1 2
√( )( ) ( )
2 2 2 2
∆π 0.012 0.001 0.001 2
Δ g 1=g 1 × −2 + + 2 =8.741 4 + +4 =0.183 (m ∕ s )
T1 l1 π 1.164 0.300 3.141

Hence
 2
g1=8.741 ± 0.183(m ∕ s )

b.L2=0.400 (m)

( ) ( )
2 2
2π 2 ×3.141
=8.925 ( m ∕ s )
2
g2=L2 =0.400
T2 1.330

√( )( )( )
∆ T 2 2 ∆ l2 2
√( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2
∆π 0.007 0.001 0.001 2
Δ g 2=g2 × −2 + + 2 =8.925 4 + +4 =0.096(m ∕ s )
T2 l2 π 1.330 0.400 3.141

Hence
2
g2=8.925± 0.096 (m ∕ s )

c.L3=0.500 (m)

( ) ( )
2 2
2π 2 ×3.141
=8.972 ( m ∕ s )
2
g3=L3 =0.500
T3 1.483

√( )( )( )
∆ T 3 2 ∆ l3 2
√( )( ) ( )
2 2 2 2
∆π 0.007 0.001 0.001 2
Δ g 3=g3 × −2 + + 2 =8.972 4 + +4 =0..087 (m ∕ s )
T3 l3 π 1.483 0.500 3.141

Hence
2
g3=8.972± 0.087(m ∕ s )

2)Pendulum with inclined oscillation plane

*Determination of the gravitational acceleration as a function of the
inclination of the pendulum force:

θ1=0° θ2=10 ° θ3 =20° θ 4=40° θ5 =60°

Trial
T1 (s) T2 (s) T3 (s) T4 (s) T5 (s)
1 0.765 0.772 0.822 0.881 1.042
2 0.767 0.779 0.828 0.884 1.059
3 0.775 0.769 0.794 0.873 1.042
4 0.778 0.749 0.839 0.890 1.036
5 0.763 0.779 0.839 0.884 1.036

T 4=0.902 T 5=1.043 ( s )
T 1=0.770 ( s ) T 2=0.770 ( s ) T 3=0.824 ( s )

√∑ √∑ √∑ √ √
5 5
∑ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ Δ T 5= ∑ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
5 5 5
Δ T 4=
Δ T 1= ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ Δ T 2= ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ Δ T 3= ¿¿¿¿ i=1 i=1
i=1 i=1 i=1

For θ1=0° :

For θ2=10 ° :
For θ3 =20° :
For θ 4=40° :

For θ5 =60° :
Pendulum with inclined oscillation plane:
l=0.150 ( m )

√ ( )
2
l
T =2 π ( s ) → g= l 2 π ( m ∕ s2 )
gcos θ cos θ T
O
A . θ1=0

( ) ( )
2 2
l 2π 0.150 2× 3.141 2
g1 = = o
=9.984 (m ∕ s )
cos θ 1 T 1 cos 0 0.805

√( )( )( )(
∆ T 1 2 ∆ l1 2 ∆ cos θ 1 2
) √( )( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2 2
∆π 0.011 0.001 0.001 0.001
Δ g 1=g 1 × −2 + + 2 + =9.984 4 + +4 + =0.170
T1 l1 π cos θ 1 0.770 0.150 3.141 1.000

Hence
2
g1=9.984 ± 0.170(m ∕ s )
b. θ2=10 O

( ) ( )
2 2
l 2π 0.150 2× 3.141 2
g2 = = o
=10.138(m ∕ s )
cos θ 2 T 2 cos 10 0.770

√( )( )( )(
∆ T 2 2 ∆ l2 2 ∆ cos θ2 2
) √( )( ) ( )( )
2 2 2 2 2
∆π 0.011 0.001 0.001 0.001
Δ g 2=g2 × −2 + + 2 + =10. .138 4 + +4 + =0.2
T2 l2 π cos θ 2 0.770 0.150 3.141 0.985

Hence
2
g2=10.138 ± 0.298( m ∕ s )

c. θ3 =20

( ) ( )
2 2
l 2π 0.150 2 ×3.141 2
g3 = = o
=9.278(m ∕ s )
cos θ 3 T 3 cos 20 0.824

√( )( )( )(
∆ T 3 2 ∆ l3 2 ∆ cos θ3 2
) √( )( ) ( )( )
2 2 2 2 2
∆π 0.017 0.001 0.001 0.001
Δ g 3=g3 × −2 + + 2 + =9.278 4 + +4 + =0.388
T3 l3 π cos θ3 0.824 0.150 3.141 0.940

g3=9.278 ±0.388 (m ∕ s )
2
Hence

d. θ 4=4 0o

( ) ( )
2 2
l 2π 0.150 2 ×3.141 2
g4 = = o
=9.498(m ∕ s )
cos θ4 T 4 cos 40 0.902

√( )( )( )(
∆ T 4 2 ∆l 4 2 ∆ cos θ4 2
) √( ) ( ) ( )( )
2 2 2 2 2
∆π 0.020 0.001 0.001 0.001
Δ g 4=g 4 × −2 + + 2 + =9.498 4 + +4 + =0.42
T4 l4 π cos θ4 0.902 0.150 3.141 0.426

Hence
2
g4 =9.498 ± 0.426(m ∕ s )

e. θ5 =60o
 ( ) ( )
2 2
l 2π 0.150 2 ×3.141 2
g5 = = o
=10.883 (m ∕ s )
cos θ 5 T 5 cos 60 1.043

√( )( )( )(
∆ T 5 2 ∆ l5 2 ∆ cos θ5 2
) √( )( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2 2
∆π 0.008 0.001 0.001 0.001
Δ g 5=g5 × −2 + + 2 + =10.883 4 + +4 + =0.18
T5 l5 π cos θ5 1.043 0.150 3.141 0.5

Hence
2
g5=10.883 ± 0.183( m ∕ s )

*Conclusion: Gravitational acceleration does not depend on the length of the rod
or the angle of inclined oscillation plane because it only depends on altitude, depth
and other factors like air density, the gravitational effect of the Moon and the Sun.