pendulum classroom experiment

Pendulum Lab

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Pendulum Patterns:  To and Fro We Go

Today’s lesson focused on pendulums.  The motion of pendulums was one of the many phenomena investigated by the famed scientist Galileo over 400 years ago and what he learned about them had a huge impact on the history of technology. The periodic motion of pendulums allowed for the invention of clocks and the standardization of time measurement. Pendulums still have many uses in modern society.

Students saw that a pendulum consists of a pivot point with a rope or wire attached to it and a mass on the end. The time it takes the pendulum to make one full oscillation back and forth is called the period. If we took the same pendulum and put it on the Moon, the pendulum would have a slower period due to less gravitational force. Some examples of items that use pendulums are metronomes and grandfather clocks.

For the activity, students constructed their own pendulums, then changed the length of the pendulum and measured the periods for pendulums of different lengths. They noticed a pattern: a longer length correlated to a longer period. They used this pattern to predict the period for a pendulum with an even longer chain length. Predicting how a system will react if the variable is changed is an important scientific skill.

Péndulos: de aquí para allá

La clase del día de hoy trató sobre los péndulos. El movimiento pendular fue uno de los muchos fenómenos estudiados por el famoso cientifico Galileo hace más de 400 años atrás; lo que él describió sobre los péndulos marcó un hito en la historia de la tecnología. El movimiento periódico de los péndulos permitió la invención de los relojes y la estandarización del tiempo, y aún tienen muchos usos en la sociedad moderna.

Los estudiantes observaron que un péndulo está configurado por una masa suspendida de un punto o de un eje horizontal fijos mediante una cuerda o cable. El tiempo que tarda el péndulo en oscilar completamente de ida y vuelta se llama “período”. La gravedad es el  único tipo de fuerza que trabaja sobre el péndulo. Si tomáramos el mismo péndulo y lo pusiéramos en la Luna, éste tendría un período más lento debido a que en la Luna hay menos fuerza gravitacional. Algunos ejemplos de artículos que usan péndulos son los metrónomos y los relojes de los abuelos.

En la actividad los estudiantes construyeron sus propios péndulos y luego cambiaron las variables para observar si la masa, el largo o el ángulo afectaba el período de sus péndulos. Se sorprendieron al descubrir que sólo el largo afecta el periodo; entre más largo, más largo el período. Los estudiantes también aprendieron que la gravedad funciona de manera similar en diferentes masas, por lo que la masa no es un factor para el periodo de un péndulo.

¡Los estudiantes realmente disfrutaron de esta actividad!

Información adicional:

Para experimentar con péndulos virtuales en tu hogar, revisa este link:

http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/pendulum-lab/pendulum-lab_en.html

El siguiente video muestra algunos de los efectos que un grupo de péndulos puede generar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkdfJ9PkRQ

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FREE K-12 standards-aligned STEM

curriculum for educators everywhere!

Find more at TeachEngineering.org .

• TeachEngineering
• Swinging Pendulum (for High School)

Hands-on Activity Swinging Pendulum (for High School)

Grade Level: 10 (9-12)

Time Required: 45 minutes

Expendable Cost/Group: US $1.00

Group Size: 3

Activity Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Physical Science, Physics

NGSS Performance Expectations:

Curriculum in this Unit Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Nested under units are lessons (in purple) and hands-on activities (in blue). Note that not all lessons and activities will exist under a unit, and instead may exist as "standalone" curriculum.

• Swinging Pendulum
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Engineering connection, learning objectives, materials list, worksheets and attachments, more curriculum like this, introduction/motivation, troubleshooting tips, activity extensions, activity scaling, user comments & tips.

Mechanical engineers design a wide range of consumer and industry devices — transportation vehicles, home appliances, computer hardware, factory equipment — that use mechanical motion. The design of equipment for demolition purposes is another example. Similar to the movement of a pendulum, an enormous wrecking ball when held at a height possesses potential energy, and as it falls, its potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. As the wrecking ball makes contact with the structure to be destroyed, it transfers that energy to flatten or take down the structure.

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Understand the concepts of potential and kinetic energy.
• Relate concepts of kinetic and potential energy to real life examples, as well as to engineering examples.
• Understand that a pendulum has a specific period, regardless of where the weight on the pendulum is started, or how much it weighs.
• Use the concepts of kinetic energy, potential energy, and conservation of energy to perform an experiment to determine an object's velocity.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science.

Common Core State Standards - Math

View aligned curriculum

Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State standards, colorado - math, colorado - science.

Each group needs:

• 2 stopwatches (borrow from other teachers or ask students to bring a watch with a second hand from home)
• masking tape
• 10 feet of string or fishing line
• weight (to tie to string)
• 3 copies of the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet

To share among groups:

• scale (optional, if mass of weight is unknown)

Remember that an object's potential energy (PE) is due to its position (height), and an object's kinetic energy (KE) is due to its motion ( velocity ). Potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy by allowing the object to fall (for example, a roller coaster going down a hill or a book falling off a table). This energy transformation also holds true for a pendulum, as illustrated in the diagram. As a pendulum swings, its potential energy converts to kinetic and back to potential, as illustrated in Figure 1.

In this activity, students prove that the transformation of energy occurs by calculating the theoretical value of velocity at which a pendulum should swing and comparing it to a measured value. Students also compare the periods (the length of time it takes the pendulum to swing back and forth one time) of the pendulum by allowing it to swing from two different heights.

Four equations will be used in this activity:

KE = ½ m∙V t 2

V m = distance ÷ time

T = (2∙Π∙ ( l / g )½

where m is mass (kg), g is gravity (10 m/s2), h is height (meters), l is the length of the pendulum (m), Vt is the calculated velocity (m/s), and Vm is the measure velocity (also m/s), and T is the period of the pendulum(s). To make the calculations simpler, use the metric system for measurements and calculations.

Before the Activity

• Gather materials.
• Designate several areas, depending on the size of your class, for pendulums to swing.
• Tie the string(s) or line(s) to the ceiling, leaving enough slack to reach the ground.

With the Students

Divide the class into groups of 3, and hand out the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet .

• Have each group measure and record the mass of the weight.
• Move each group to the designated test area and tie their weight to the line so that it barely misses the ground while hanging. The length of the pendulum will depend on the height of the ceilings in your classroom. 
• Place two pieces of tape on opposite sides of the hanging pendulum so that their distances are 50 cm apart. The pendulum should rest in the middle of the two pieces of tape.
• Have students measure and record the height of the center of your weight when it is resting at equilibrium and again when it has swung to one of the pieces of tape.
• Students should calculate the potential energy of the weight when it reaches (swings to) the piece of tape. Each team member should do this, as a way to verify the result.
• Ask students to calculate the theoretical velocity, Vt, at the bottom of the swing by first calculating the kinetic energy of the weight at the bottom of the swing. (Note: Remind students to ignore wind resistance and other factors that would cause us to lose energy. Also, remind students to calculate the potential energy of the weight at equilibrium and factor this into their answer.)
• Instruct one or two students to pull back the weight until it reaches the edge of one of the pieces of tape.
• Have two students synchronize two stopwatches, each holding one, and start the stopwatches as soon as the weight is released.
• The first student should stop her/his stopwatch when the pendulum reaches the first piece of tape, and the second student should stop her/his watch when it reaches the second piece of tape (the original piece).
• Ask students to record the difference in times on their Swinging Pendulum Worksheet.
• Students should repeat the experiment three times.
• Repeat steps 4-12 but make set up the two pieces of tape so they are 80 cm apart.
• Instruct students to calculate the theoretical period of the pendulum.
• They should compare the theoretical period with their average measured period. (Note: The measured period is the time it takes for the weight to complete one full swing to one piece of tape and back to the other.)
• Instruct students to complete the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet.

Pre-Activity Assessment

Question/Answer : Ask the students and discuss as a class:

• Where will the pendulum have the greatest amount of energy? (Answer: It has the same amount of energy wherever it is.)

Prediction : Ask the students to predict:

• Will a pendulum starting at a higher height go faster or slower than a pendulum that starts at a lower height? (Answer: It should go faster.)
• Will a pendulum starting at higher heights have a greater period? (Answer: It should be the same as a lower-starting pendulum no matter the height.)

Activity Embedded Assessment

• Complete the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet .

Post-Activity Assessment

• If engineers can use potential energy (height) of an object to calculate how fast it will travel when falling, can they do the reverse and calculate how high something will rise if they know its kinetic energy (velocity)? (Answer: Yes, as long as you know either height or velocity, you can calculate the other.)
• For what might an engineer use this information? (Answer: To create other amusement park rides besides roller coasters, in racing, or how to launch something, etc.)
• Why did the pendulum have the same period even when the weight started from different heights? (Answer: The period of a pendulum is only dependent on the length of the pendulum, which is consistent no matter where the weight starts.)

Safety Issues

Make sure the students do not use the weighted pendulum to swing at (hit) one another.

If students are complaining that the weight is not reaching the pieces of tape, ask them if they think it should and if so, why it is not. Then tell them to stop the stopwatches when the weight reaches the furthest point of its swing (right as the weight is changing direction).

If students have not had much experience with pendulums, then be sure to give them the equation for finding the period and help them with Question 5 from Calculations and Results section of the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet .

Pendulums can be used for many different tasks. Have your students research how pendulums are used today and specifically, how they are used by engineers.

• For all grades, if there is not enough time to complete the activity, have students complete the Swinging Pendulum Worksheet as homework.
• For lower grades, if students have never done any work with pendulums, then explain that this will be a good introduction to pendulums. Plan on working with them through the questions pertaining to the period of the pendulum and the pendulum itself.
• For higher grades, complete the activity as is.

This activity demonstrates how potential energy (PE) can be converted to kinetic energy (KE) and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by understanding conservation of energy and using the equations for PE and KE.

Students are introduced to both potential energy and kinetic energy as forms of mechanical energy. A hands-on activity demonstrates how potential energy can change into kinetic energy by swinging a pendulum, illustrating the concept of conservation of energy.

Using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit, students construct experiments to measure the time it takes a free falling body to travel a specified distance. Students use the touch sensor, rotational sensor, and the brick to measure the time of flight for the falling object at different release heights.

Contributors

Supporting program, acknowledgements.

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: September 16, 2020

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• Teaching Resources
• Stem Activities Ks2 Pendulum Experiment

Gravity KS2 – STEM pendulum experiment

PDF lesson plan of salt pendulum experiment for KS2.

Engineers use pendulums in their constructions for lots of things, from everyday clocks to amusement park rides. In this gravity KS2 lesson, children will learn what a pendulum is, and build upon this knowledge by creating and experimenting with their own salt pendulum.

They will explore the patterns created by the pendulum and the forces involved in the swing, such as gravity and kinetic energy.

Pupils will also make real-world links to the practical applications of pendulums, and the role they play in day-to-day objects.

Gravity KS2 lesson

What they’ll learn:

• Ask relevant questions and use different types of scientific enquiries to answer them
• Set up simple practical enquiries, comparative, and fair tests
• Identify the forces acting on a pendulum

Starter activity

Begin by displaying three images for children to discuss:

• playground swing
• swing boat ride at an amusement park
• wrecking ball

What do these images have in common? Encourage the children to think about how each of these objects moves. They might identify that each object swings back and forth under its own weight. Explain that each image is an example of a pendulum.

A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot (central point) so it can swing freely. Can they think of any other places where we might find a pendulum?

Emily Hunt is an experienced primary teacher, senior leader and author of the 15-Minute STEM book series (Crown House Publishing). Emily also blogs and shares STEM activities on her website How To STEM .

Similar resources

• Little Inventors – KS2 STEM inventions resource pack
• Space activities for kids – Active learning Planet Match game
• Wind speed measurement – Make an anemometer with paper cups
• The Dam by David Almond – Cross-curricular KS2 activities
• Forces KS2 – Simple machines STEM activities

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Playground Science – Exploring Pendulums & Ada Twist, Scientist

Playground science and an ada twist, scientist giveaway.

Exploring Pendulums with the Scientific Method

How can swings help children explore science? The answer is in the physics of pendulums! Your students will follow the Scientific Method and come to a conclusion on their own about swings. What could be more fun than playground science?

Now it is time to test the hypothesis with an experiment. Have each of your test subjects swing on the swing for at least a few swings (trying to reach approximately the same height), then have them stop pumping their legs and measure the period. Do this by starting the stopwatch when they reach the very front/top of the swing, and when they return back to it again. Record the period, then move on to the next test subject!

Once each person has tested the swing at the initial height, move the swing higher, and repeat the test. Repeat the entire process at least once more for best results. You are now ready to analyze the data . Look at the test results and ask your kids these questions:

• What do you notice about the period when the swing is low to the ground (long string/chain) compared to when it is short?
• What do you notice about the period when people of different mass are on the swing?
• What factor affects the period more, the mass of the rider, or the length of the string?
• Does the starting angle affect the period at all (if the rider swings very high or very low)?

Draw Conclusions

Now it’s time to check the hypothesis against the test results. Was your hypothesis correct? If it was, you guessed right. If not, that is okay too! Scientists need to follow the Scientific Method to find out how things behave. Rejecting your hypothesis is just as important as supporting it!

Once you have followed all of these steps, your students can let their peers know what they have learned by sharing their results . If they don’t believe it, they can form their own hypothesis and repeat the experiment. Perhaps they will want to test a different factor. Ask the kids what they think about these possible changes in the experiment:

The Physics of Pendulums

Ada twist, scientist giveaway.

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

Abrams Books provided us with a copy of Ada Twist, Scientist and a special Ada Twist print signed by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts to share with one lucky reader! You will adore this book if you enjoyed Rosie Revere, Engineer or Iggy Peck, Architect .

From the publisher:

GIVEAWAY CLOSED, sorry!

Giveaway rules:

No purchase necessary. The sweepstakes is only open to legal residents of the continental United States (sorry, international readers!) and is void where prohibited by law.  The Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited.By participating, you agree to be fully unconditionally bound by these Rules, and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth herein. In addition, you agree to accept the decisions of STEM Activities for Kids, as final and binding as it relates to the content. The giveaway is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. You may enter only once and you must fill in the information requested. You may not enter more times than indicated by using multiple email addresses, identities or devices in an attempt to circumvent the rules.

You must provide a shipping address in order to claim your prize. the giveaway must be entered by submitting an entry using the online form provided on this site. the entry must fulfill all giveaway requirements, as specified, to be eligible to win a prize. entries that are not complete or do not adhere to the rules or specifications may be disqualified at the sole discretion stem activities for kids., winner will receive one copy of ada twist, scientist and a signed print (approximate value $17.95 usd). by entering you agree to release and hold harmless stem activities for kids, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i) such entrant’s participation in the sweepstakes and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the promotion; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the promotion or the processing of entries., no cash or other prize substitution permitted except at sponsor’s discretion. the prize is nontransferable. any and all prize related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the winner. no substitution of prize or transfer/assignment of prize to others or request for the cash equivalent by winners is permitted. acceptance of prize constitutes permission for stem activities for kids to use winner’s name, likeness, and entry for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law..

About Meredith

Meredith Anderson is a STEM education enthusiast and former homeschooling parent. A mechanical engineer by training, she enjoys creating STEM educational resources for her two sons, other homeschoolers, and classrooms around the world.

19 Comments

Leave your reply..

These are really awesome and engaging stem activities! Thank you so much!

I love to make edible rocks with them and learn about the rock cycle. 🙂

This is awesome

I am so excited about these activities and I can’t wait to get outside with my 4th graders to test some of these out. We have already done some experimentation with levers and pullies. Thanks for posting!

I love the sink and float science experiment!

Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite science to win with kids is Oobleck.

Wonderful! Great ideas and so easy to do using what’s available just outside.

I do pendulum activities every year with my 5th graders but never on the playground! I LOVE this idea and the free recording sheet. I can’t wait to use it with my students! Thanks!

My favorite science activity to do with my kids is a STEM based activity. I love seasonal to get them in the mood. I also love doing fairy tale STEM to add reading and language arts based ideas! My first graders remembered today working with the three bears and the Big Bad Wolf! They remember building and we could connect growth mind-set ideas to how they had to keep trying! I also love the lesson above because we are dong FOSS swingers this next week. This idea is a great connection piece that I will be using!

Renee from Science School Yard

I love anything STEM with my students. I use it for seasonal connections and when students need to just think and play! I love that my second graders remembered the Princess and the Pea STEM activity that we did last year and we could make connections to growth mind-set and how we had to do a plan B and try again. We didn’t give up! I also love the activity included! I am doing the FOSS swingers lesson this week and this is a great extension.

This is awesome!! I love doing “building a bridge” and “edible science.” I can’t wait to try this pendulum experiment!! They will love it!!

Our school just got new safe swings for our playground. I love the STEM activities regarding swing in this book. I would definitely try some of these swing activities.

Love doing chemical reactions with kids. Their expressions say it all!

I love doing just about an experiment with the kiddos. They get so excited and are so engaged. Making ice cream is always a huge hit!

My favorite, at the moment, is building lighted villages with simple circuitry. This book would be an amazing resource!

I love this post. Great ways to get kids engaged in science and math while outside! My favorite science experiment… that is tricky! I love doing chromatography with kids, and anything that involves plants! Water quality testing/chemistry with older kids and exploring magnets with the Preschoolers.

Did one of my favorites today – we dipped different types of potato chips in choclate to see how well they held the chocolate – great for teaching about variables, the scientific method, how to write a lab report…And its yummy too!

This is a fabulous post. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this blog. I’m really going outside my comfort zone with STEM this year and I am hoping to do more experiments.

My favorite activity to do with my after-school STEM group is when we make shoe box marble mazes. The students are always a little apprehensive of how they could really design and build a maze like the ones they see online. As they start and continue the design process, they gain confidence in themselves. Love <3

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Pendulum Motion Video Tutorial

The Pendulum Motion Video Tutorial provides a wealth of details about the motion of a pendulum. Discussion topics include forces, free-body diagrams, force analysis with components, changes in speed and direction, position-time graphs, velocity-time graphs, changes in kinetic and potential energy, and the period-length relationship. The video lesson answers the following questions:

• How does the force, acceleration, position, velocity, kinetic energy, and potential energy change over the course of a pendulum’s path?
• What factors affect the period of a pendulum and how?

View Video Tutorial

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