Pendulums

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Ok im doing a physics coursework on pendulums. I can/have/am doing all the write-ups just fine however although i know what happens finding the research to show that as the length increases so does the period. Mostly on the internet i find only pendulums for sale or many different formulas and i have no idea which one is appropiate for this.

The coursework is on "how length affects the time period" and any help of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

 

Uh, have you thought about going to an actual LIBRARY and consulting a physics, calculus, or vector analysis text? This is a pretty basic thing.

Try looking up "simple harmonic motion" instead of pendulum.

 

I have actually got something with this on, but it's on Encarta 2000.

I could try and find the topics and stuff on it and send it to you if it is any help

 

Yeah, this is in every physics1 book, that has ever been printed in this century.

And time is right there in the equation. Just derive it out, and you'll come up with a rate equation. Which is probably all that is necessary.

 

I believe Sprite has already conveniently given the formula for that in limerick form here .

If you can't decipher it, ask again.

[ January 19, 2003, 20:36: Message edited by: Blog ]

 

"Goes 2pi * (l/g^0.5)"

I assume - 2pi times Length/gravity to the square of 0.5.

What is l and g, mine are jus guesses.

 

What educational level do you want?

I have no idea how to help you if I don't know how technical your assingment is required to be.

Are we talking simple pendulums? Are we talking massless wires- Is the pendulum a point mass? Or does it have dimensions, then more complications arise.
Do you know such terms as Inertia and Torque?
**

Anyway. The derived formula for the frequenzy of a simple pendulum (point mass and massless wire) is very hard to put numbers on with this text program.
Take the root of ("gravitational force"(g)/"lenght of wire"(l)) and multiply with 1/(2pi)
So you see that a doubled lenght of the pendulum does not mean the doubled time of the frequence. And if swung on the moon one swing would take a lot longer time, since the gravitaiton on the moon is much less.

**
The sharp observer notes that the mass of the pendulum is not even a factor in simple pendulums. But it is technically more complicated to explain and requires understanding of the moment of inertia.

PM me if you want to know more about this in much more details. I would wager that a search on "Simple pendulum" might help you a lot too, since it is an accepted technical term.

[ January 20, 2003, 21:24: Message edited by: Nobleman ]

 

Thanks Nobleman, and everybody. It's only a simple pendulum we're working with and although i found a few formulas i couldn't tell which was the right one for a simple pendulum.