Period of a Pendulum

Overview

Link to Experience: https://play.phenomena.app/player/eDwXamt8EEcba23jD1Iu

Topics: physics, period, pendulums

Grades: 10-12

Standards:

Duration to complete: 10-15 minutes

Learning outcome: Students will learn which factors do and do not impact the period of a pendulum, as well as understanding some of the math that underlies their motion.

In the Classroom

Pre-Experience (Things to Look Out For):

• What is a pendulum? Can you name a few examples?

• What is the word “period” referring to in this context? (Hint: it’s not the end of a sentence)

• How do you expect the mass on a pendulum to affect its period? How about the length of the pendulum? Or even the starting angle? Make some predictions!

• What trigonometric function do you get if you graph the position of a pendulum over time?

• When is a pendulum moving fastest? Slowest? How slow is it going at its slowest point?

Post-Experience (Things to Think About):

• Why does the pendulum mass not affect its period?

• What factor(s) are being ignored in this simulation? How would they cause the outcome to change?

• When is the pendulum period formula wrong? What does it assume?