Hi! I have some questions I'dlike to discuss regarding an experiment with thependulum
I will have a laboratory class in which I will have to measurethe period of oscillation of the swinging pendulum using anelectronic stopwatch.
what method could I use to obtain the period of a physicalpendulum using a stopwatch, taking care to minimise anyuncertainties?
Can you help me to go through this questions?
Should you start the stopwatch at the same time as you set thependulum swinging, or would it be better to start the pendulumswinging and begin timing later?
Will you measure the time for just one “to-and-fro†swing (i.e.one period), or the time for multiple swings and then divide thetime by the number of swings to get the period?
How many measurements will you make at a particular pendulumlength? Would it be better to take the average of severalmeasurements?
What angle will you be using? Why?
What is the uncertainty in the length of the pendulum? Is itlimited by the precision
of your equipment or something else?
What is the minimum length that you will be using? Why?
