Sample physics lab report

Determination of the Gravitation Constant g

by Means of a Simple Pendulum
John Long
School of Engineering and Technology
Deakin University

Aim
This experiment was performed to determine the gravitational acceleration of objects
close to the surface of the earth, by observing the motion of a simple pendulum.

Introduction
A simple pendulum, figure 1, displaced through a small angle θ , will oscillate back
and forth about its equilibrium position with period T. T is the time the pendulum
takes to make one complete back-and-forth motion. The bob is hung from a rigid
support on a string of length L.

Figure 1: The simple pendulum.

For oscillations where the angle θ is small, the period T is related to the length L of
the string and the gravitation constant g by

L
T = 2π
g

Squaring both sides of this equation yields

L
T 2 = 4π 2
g
If one measures the period of a pendulum as a function of the length of the string,
then a plot of T2 as a function of L will yield a straight line with a gradient G; and

Reproduced from the Unit Guides for SEP 101 and SEP 115
 4π 2
g=
G

Experimental Method
A simple pendulum was produced from a length of string and a fishing sinker. The
sinker was displaced through an angle less than 10 degrees and released. For five
different lengths of string between 23 and 100 cm, the period of oscillation was
measured. In each measurement, the pendulum was allowed to oscillate 50 times. The
total time for 50 oscillations was measured with a stopwatch, and the period was
calculated by dividing the total time for 50 oscillations by 50. The stopwatch
measures time to 0.01 seconds. However, it is estimated that the total reaction time of
the experimenter was 0.2 seconds. Thus the uncertainty of any original measurement
of time was taken to be 0.2 seconds. With a metre rule, the length of the string was
measured to the nearest millimetre. The length of the string was measured from the
support to the centre of the bob.

Results and Calculations

Table 1 shows the results of the experiment, and the plot of T2 versus L is given in
figure 2.

String Time for 50 Time T for one Period

Length (m) oscillations oscillation (s) squared (s2)
(s)
0.975 97.3 1.95 3.80
0.812 88.7 1.77 3.13
0.597 75.6 1.51 2.28
0.411 61.9 1.24 1.54
0.235 45.9 0.918 0.843
Table 1: Pendulum data.

The uncertainty in each measurement of length is 0.001 m. The uncertainty in each

measurement of time for 50 oscillations, δ T1 is 0.2 s. Thus the uncertainty in any
measurement of the period is

δ T1 0.2 s
δT = = = 0.004 s
50 50

The period is squared prior to plotting. The relative uncertainty in the period squared
is twice the relative uncertainty in the period:

δ (T 2 ) δ T 0.008 s
2 =2 =
T T T

Reproduced from the Unit Guides for SEP 101 and SEP 115
Solving for δT,

δT 2
δ (T 2 ) = 2 T = 2T (δ T ) = ( 0.008 s) T
T

Thus the uncertainty in T2 is proportional to T. The largest data point is for

T2 = 3.80 s2. The uncertainty in this datum is δ (T 2 ) = (0.008 s) (195
. s) = 0.0156 s 2 .
The maximum uncertainty in T2 is thus 0.4 %. The error bars associated with T2 are
too small to plot on a graph. Similarly, the error bars associated with L are also too
small to plot on the graph.

2 4
T
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.235 0.411 0.597 0.812 0.975
length (m)

Figure 2: Plot of T2 as a function of L.

A straight line fits the data well. The gradient of the line of best fit can be calculated
from

rise (3.5 − 0.50 ) s 2 3.0 s 2

G= = = = 3.95 s 2 / m
run ( 0.90 − 0.14 ) m 0.76 m

and

4π 2 4π 2
g= = = 9.99 m / s2
G 3.95 s2 / m

To work out the uncertainty in the gradient, an alternative line of best fit was
selected, and its gradient is given by

( 3.75 − 2.50 ) s 2 1.25 s 2

Galt = = = 4.03 s 2 / m
( 0.95 − 0.64 ) m 0.31 m

The uncertainty in G is the difference of these 2 gradients:

δ G = ± (Galt − G ) = ± (4.03 − 3.95) s2 / m = ± 0.08 s2 / m

Reproduced from the Unit Guides for SEP 101 and SEP 115
The percent uncertainty in G, and thus in g is

δ G δ g 0.08
= = = 2%
G g 3.95

Thus the experimentally determined value of the gravitation constant is

g = 9.99 m/s2 ± 2 %.

Discussion
The accepted value1 of g is 9.81 m/s2. The accuracy of the results is

g observed − g expected (9.99 − 9.81) m / s 2

accuracy = = = +2%
g expected 9.81 m / s 2

The experimentally determined value of g agrees with the accepted value to within
the experimental uncertainty. Thus this experiment was a successful and accurate
determination of g, even with the simple apparatus.

The bob used in this experiment is in the shape of a triangular wedge. The centre of
mass was estimated (guessed) for the bob, and the length of the string was
consistently measured to that point. The accuracy of the length of the string did not
matter in this experiment so long as the length was always measured in the same way.
The gravitation constant was determined from the change in T2 as L changed. This
change is static, regardless of where the end of the string was taken to be. Any errors
in estimating where the string ended will merely shift the plot up or down. It will not
affect the gradient. An interesting further experiment would be to collect more data
points for small L, and see if the plotted data pass through the origin.

Another interesting investigation would be to perform the experiment for large angles
of displacement θ. The theory assumes that this angle is small. Further experiments
could investigate how the determination of g in this technique is affected by an
increasing angle of displacement.

Conclusion
By means of a simple pendulum, the value of the gravitation constant was determined
to be g = 9.99 m/s2 ± 2 %. This agreed with the accepted value, 9.81 m/s2, to within
the experimental uncertainty.

References
1. Deakin University (1997), SEP101 Unit Guide.
2. Halliday, D., Resnick, R., and Walker, J. (1993), Fundamentals of
Physics, 4th edn (extended), John Wiley & Sons, New York.
3. Ohanian, H.C. (1994), Principles of Physics, Norton, New York.

1
Halliday, Resnick and Walker give g to one decimal place: g = 9.8 m/s2. However, Ohanian gives it
to two decimal places: g = 9.81 m/s2.

Reproduced from the Unit Guides for SEP 101 and SEP 115