The focus of this unit is to evaluate whether the period of a pendulum depends on the amplitude of the swing.
Why might measuring consecutive pendulum swings in a single measurement trial reduce
the uncertainty on your estimate of the period as compared to an estimate from measurement trials of single swings?
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• Identify and quantify sources of uncertainty in data.
• Design an experiment with sufficiently high precision to test a model, finding efficient and
effective ways to reduce uncertainty.
• Compare pairs of measurements based on their uncertainties and use those comparisons
to make appropriate inferences.
• Iterate on an experimental procedure to reduce uncertainty , test assumptions and claims,
and extend the investigation to explore the phenomenon.
Experimentation Goals
These experimentation goals are most strongly represented in the explicit learning goals described above:
Student Decision Making
In this lab, students have the opportunity to:
Discovery
Determine results previously known to:
Duration
two sessions of one hour each
Equipment Required
Implementation Tips
Continuing the logic, measuring 20 or 50 consecutive pendulum swings should be even better.
One potential issue is that the amplitude of the swing will change over time.
How many consecutive swings do you expect would lead to a noticeable change in amplitude?
Provide either a guess or calculated prediction, with a brief explanation of your reasoning.
How This Fits in Your Course
This is the first lab in a intro lab course
How is This Resource an Experimentation-Focused Lab
We go beyond cookbook labs, and ask the students to create their own procedure and analysis.
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Adrian Madsen
Sam McKagan
Belkis Karakis
CC BY-NC-SA
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike. Others can share and adapt for non-commercial purposes, must attribute and share with the same license.
