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Pendulum Lab: Measuring Gravity with Uncertainty

Use a string and a weight to measure the acceleration of gravity and judge how trustworthy your result is.

Grade 11ExperimentScience OlympiadScienceMathPhysicsMeasurementData AnalysisAdvanced60 to 90 min7 materials

What you'll learn

  • Derive and use the relation T squared proportional to L
  • Find g from the slope of a linearized graph
  • Estimate uncertainty and explain what limits accuracy

Objective

Measure the acceleration due to gravity with a simple pendulum, linearize the data, and estimate the uncertainty of your result.

STEM concepts

Simple harmonic motionPeriod and frequencyGravityMeasurement uncertaintySmall-angle approximation
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