Activity
Investigating pendulums – what matters?
In this investigation, students use simple equipment to scientifically determine the factors that influence the period of a pendulum.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
describe the variables in a pendulum system
describe why it is important to only change one variable at a time
record data from an experiment
state the experimental evidence used to decide which factors influence the period of a pendulum.
Pendulums – what matters?
What really controls the timing of a pendulum? Using the simple equipment shown, find the answer.
Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
Download the Word file (see link below).
Follow up this investigation with Pendulums – collecting and using data. Students collect, interpret and graph data, and use the graph to interpolate and extrapolate values.
Published: 28 June 2018
