What is a pendulum and what causes it to swing?

What is a pendulum and what causes it to swing?

A pendulum is an object hung from a fixed point that swings back and forth under the action of gravity. When the swing is raised and released, it will move freely back and forth due to the force of gravity on it.

What is the law of pendulum?

Also called pendulum law . a law, discovered by Galileo in 1602, that describes the regular, swinging motion of a pendulum by the action of gravity and acquired momentum. the theory holding that trends in culture, politics, etc., tend to swing back and forth between opposite extremes.

What is pendulum energy?

In a simple pendulum with no friction, mechanical energy is conserved. Total mechanical energy is a combination of kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy. As the pendulum swings back and forth, there is a constant exchange between kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy.

How do you find the force of a pendulum?

This force is a function of the earth’s constant acceleration due to gravity, the pendulum bob’s mass and the angle between the pendulum and the vertical. Specifically, the force equals the mass times gravity times the sine of that angle – (F = mg sinθ).

What is centripetal force of a pendulum?

A pendulum bob follows a circular path. Therefore, it is acted on by a centripetal (“center-seeking”) force. At the bottom of the pendulum’s swing the net force on the bob is the combination of the tension in the string and the force due to gravity.

What affects the speed of a pendulum?

The swing rate, or frequency, of the pendulum is determined by its length. The longer the pendulum, whether it is a string, metal rod or wire, the slower the pendulum swings. Conversely the shorter the pendulum the faster the swing rate.

Is speed and acceleration the same?

Speed is the distance covered in a unit of time while acceleration is the rate of change of speed. The unit of speed in the metric system is meters per second (m/s) while that of acceleration is meters per second squared (m/s2). Speed is a scalar quantity while acceleration is a vector quantity.

What does speed and acceleration have in common?

Velocity and acceleration both use speed as a starting point in their measurements. Speed, which is the measurement of distance traveled over a period of time, is a scalar quantity. Both velocity and acceleration are vector quantities, meaning that they use both magnitudes and a specified direction.

How do you know when acceleration is positive?

That means that the direction of the acceleration determines whether you will be adding to or subtracting from the velocity. Mathematically, a negative acceleration means you will subtract from the current value of the velocity, and a positive acceleration means you will add to the current value of the velocity.