5.

0 PROCEDURE
5.1 The pendulum was assembled and L was initially set to 40.0 cm (0.40
m)
5.2 The pendulum was displaced to one side with a small angle which was
less than 10o.
5.3 The pendulum was released and the stopwatch was started
simultaneously.
5.4 The timer was stopped when the pendulum had completed ten
oscillations.
5.5 The length L and the time taken for ten oscillations were recorded in
Table 1.
5.6 Step 5.2 to Step 5.5 was repeated for another two readings by using the
same L.
5.7 The whole step was repeated with different length of L.
5.8 All data was recorded in Table 1.
6.0 RESULTS
No.

Length,

Time for 10 oscillations (s)

Period, T

L (m)

T2 (s2)

(s)
First

Second

Third

Average

0.40

12.50

12.70

12.76

12.65

1.27

1.61

0.35

12.02

12.00

12.02

12.01

1.19

1.42

0.30

11.17

11.23

11.31

11.24

1.10

1.21

0.25

10.14

10.14

10.18

10.15

1.00

1.00

0.20

9.25

9.15

9.23

9.21

0.90

0.81

0.15

8.00

8.10

7.94

8.01

0.78

0.61

0.10

6.79

6.92

7.02

6.91

0.63

0.40

0.05

5.32

5.34

5.48

5.38

0.45

0.20

Table 1

7.0 DATA ANALYSIS

7.1 Refer Table Graph 1
7.2 The gradient of the graph.

gradient ,m=

y 2 y 1
x 2x 1

m=

(1.000.20)
(0.250.05)

m=

0.80
0.20

7.3 The value of acceleration of gravity, g.

By using the formula, value of g can be determine ;

4
gradient ,m=
g
4
g=
m

4
g=
4

g=9.87ms

7.4 The percentage error between the value of g in 7.3

actual value or the standard value of g which is

percentage error=

g
(experiment )

gstandard =9.8ms

and the

actual valueexperimental value

100
actual value

| |
| |

percentageerror=

9.89.87
100
9.8

percentageerror=

(0.07)
100
9.8

7.5 The value of uncertainties of g ;

2
( 9.879.8 ) ms

0.07ms

8.0 DISCUSSION
The experiment was carried out to determine the value of acceleration due
to gravity by the means of simple pendulum. The constant of acceleration due to
gravity appears in the relationship of the period of a simple pendulum to its

length. Therefore, by measuring the period of a simple pendulum as a function of

its length, the acceleration due to gravity can be determined. The acceleration
due to gravity is to be 9.793394 ms-2 .
In this experiment, the dependence of the period of the simple pendulum
on its length was exploited to obtain the acceleration due to gravity. The period
of the pendulum was determined by timing its swing for various lengths, and
formulas were used to analyze the data.

a) To calculate the gradient and the value of

1.gradient ,m=

y 2 y 1
x 2x 1

4
2.gradient ,m=
g
4
g=
m

b) To find the percentage differences of experimental value and standard

value of

percentageerror=

actual valueexperimentalvalue
100
actualvalue

c) To calculate the value of uncertainties ;

The value of

obtained in this experiment, was however differ from the

theoretical value. This was caused by some error. Firstly, the timer used in the
experiment has a systemic error. Next, this is due to some error that is may be
the imperfection in the ruler used to measure length and the innate variation in

human reaction when operating the stopwatch or the timer. Beside that, this may
be because of the air resistant factor.
The result of the experiment can be improve by using the correctly
calibrated instruments, avoid wrong assumption and handling the instrument
properly.
The are some appropriate scientific skill to handle the simple pendulum
experiment. Firstly by pressing the motion sensor and timer reset button at the
same time when the pendulum has started oscillating. Beside that, press the
stop button at the same time after the pendulum has completed 10 complete
oscillations. Furthermore, repeat swinging the pendulum if the pendulum bob
touches the U-shape photo gate during the oscillation bob or also known as the
swinging of the pendulum bob.

9.0 CONCLUSION

The acceleration of gravity, g is

g=9.870.07ms

10.0 REFERENCES
10.1 F.Tyler, A Laboratory Manual of Physics, 1967, page 18-19
10.2
10.3

1.0TITLE
The oscillation of a simple pendulum
2.0OBJECTIVES
2.1To find the periodic time for the oscillation of various length of simple
pendulum.
2.2To determine the value for the acceleration due to gravity, g.
3.0THEORY
When a pendulum bob is swinging at the end of a light thread, it
approximates simple harmonic motion (SHM). If we assume that all the mass
is concentrated at the centre of gravity of the bob and that the restoring force
acts at a single point, we refer to this apparatus as simple pendulum.