Green House Effect

Simple Pendulum

The time T for a pendulum to swing back and forth once is called its period and is given by T=2√Lg , where L equals the length of the pendulum. The table lists the periods of pendulums with different lengths.

L (feet) | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |

T (seconds) | 0.78 | 1.11 | 1.36 |

a) Solve the formula for g.

b) Use the table to determine the value of g.

(Note: The units for g are feet per second per second.)

c) Interpret your results.

A) Solve the formula for g.

Original equation: T = 2π √ Lg

(T/2π) = L/g

g*T^(2)/4π=L/g

g=L*4π^(2)/T^(2)

g=0.5*4π^(2)/0.78^(2)

B) Results

L (feet) | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |

T (seconds) | 0.78 | 1.11 | 1.36 |

g (seconds) | 3.2873 | 3.2465 | 3.2439 |

C) Interpretation of results:

As you increase the feet from 0.5 to 1.0 the gravity increases until it reaches one foot then starts to decrease because of the friction from the object that is falling. Once the object reaches its maximum rate of fall, which is one foot, the object began to decrease even though the length of fall increases. This makes sense since the pendulum would have more ground to follow and gravity would affect its swing. Just because the length is increasing at the same intervals, the time is not.

Discuss any concept that a team member is having a difficult time understanding.

This week’s team assignment was difficult for me. Solving for g and making sure that I had the correct equation presented its self as a challenge all the way around. With the help from others I was able to gain a better understanding for solving this equation.

Examine the importance and applicability of this week’s concepts to each team member and to society in general.

For society in general this concept would allow someone the ability to calculate the gravity effect on an item that could be used by the public. Some examples are multi-level buildings and bridges. With this calculation you would be able to determine the...