Simple Harmonic Motion
Introduction
Simple harmonic motion is one of the types of motion that the restoring force is directly
proportional to the displacement. It consists one or more vibratory motion that are symmetric
about the region of equilibrium. The two well known example that demonstrate this concept is
the pendulum and the spring. In this experiment, we decide to focus on the movement of the
pendulum which is one of the famous example that demonstrate the simple harmonic motion.
The purpose of the experiment is to find out whether the length of the string will affect the time
period of the pendulum. Therefore, we set up the model of pendulum and tie 2 mass with
different length of the string and use them to demonstrate by timing the time that the mass will
move and compare whether the long or short string will use more time to move in the same
number of revolution.
Period = how much time taken in 1 revolution.
Objective :
To understand the concept of simple harmonic and investigate the effect of the length of
the string on period in the pendulum.
Hypothesis :
If we compare the time that the long and short string of pendulum move for 5 revolution,
then the long string pendulum will use more time than the short string.
Background
Simple harmonic is a chapter that we didnt cover in Physics this year. With our interests,
we decide to make a simple model to investigate the effect of the length of the string on the time
period of pendulum and for further studying in this chapter its really important to understand the
basic concept of it. We use stick of woods and hang bells on both side with a different length of
string. By making the simple model and observing the movement of bells, students who are
studying simple harmonic will see the real thing and clearly understand about what is
happening. Also, the students will be able to adapt and use this knowledge to study in a more
complicated topic.
Description
Materials :
-
Wooden stick
Wooden base
The string
The ring
Stopwatch
2 Bells
Procedure :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Prepare the model and the stopwatch
Push the Bell and let it move
Time the time that the bell use to move 5 revolutions and record in the table
Push another Bell on the other side and let it move
Time the time that the bell use to move 5 revolutions and record in the table
Repeat #2 #3 #4 and #5 for another 2 times
Table 1: Long string
Trial
Length (m)
# of
revolution
Time (sec)
Period
(sec/rev)
%Difference
0.17
4.52
0.904
9.239%
0.17
4.11
0.822
0.66%
0.17
4.43
0.886
7.063%
Table 2: Short string
Trial
Length (m)
# of
revolution
Time (sec)
Period
(sec/rev)
%Difference
0.085
3.41
0.682
16.54%
0.085
3.22
0.644
10.055%
0.085
3.16
0.632
8.004%
% Difference = [(Experimental Result - Theoretical Result)/Theoretical Result] x 100
Theoretical Result
T : period (sec/rev)
L : length of the string (m)
g : gravity (m/s2 )
Length : 0.17 m
T = 0.828 sec/rev
Length : 0.085 m
T = 0.585 sec/rev
Summary
From our experiment which we try to find out whether the length of the pendulum affect
the time period of the pendulum. We did the experiment by timing the time that the long and
short string pendulum use to move one revolution. The length of the short and long string that
we use is 8.5 cm (0.085 m) and 17 cm (0.17 m). Also, we compare the result with the theoretical
result to make sure the the result that we got is accurate enough. We did the experiment by
timing the time pendulum used to move 5 revolution for the long string 3 times and short string 3
times. The results are 4.52, 4.11 and 4.43 seconds for the long string and 3.41, 3.22 and 3.16
seconds for the short string. Therefore the time period for the long strings are 0.904, 0.822 and
0.886 while the time period for the short strings are 0.682, 0.644 and 0.632. Both of them is not
very different from the theoretical result that we calculated from the formula T =2 which
are 0.828 sec/rev for the long string and 0.585 sec/rev for the short string. Also the result that
we got are the same as our hypothesis that we stated that the long string pendulum will use
more time to move 5 revolution than the short string use. Therefore the length of the string effect
the time period of the pendulum, the longer the string, the longer period of time that the
pendulum used to move.
References
Lab 7 - Simple Harmonic Motion. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2016, from
[Link]
Simple Harmonic Motion. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2016, from [Link]
What Is Simple Harmonic Motion? (n.d.). Retrieved June 01, 2016, from
[Link]
Simple Harmonic Motion
Physics final project
By
Sutinee Khahapana (Mind)
Sohita Kittimongkolsook (Aun)
Nawinda Malikhao (Now)
1102
Teacher
Ms. Susana Alulod
Mahidol University International Demonstration School