The equipment is a model of a socalled reversion pendulum. In principle, then, a pendulum could be used to measure g, the acceleration of gravity. Reversible katers pendulum harvard natural sciences. The katers pendulum works as a reversible and adjustable compound pendulum. Homework statement hey guys, so im doing the an exercise on the katers pendulum, to calculate g. The simple pendulum the university of tennessee at.
A special reversible compound pendulum called katers pendulum is designed to measure the value of g, the acceleration of gravity. A physical pendulum with two adjustable knife edges for an accurate determination of g. It is a compound pendulum constructed on the principle that centre of oscillation and centre of suspension are interchangable. A gravity pendulum designed to measure the acceleration of gravity and consisting of a body with two knifeedge supports on opposite sides of the center of mass explanation of katers reversible pendulum. Background katers pendulum is the name given for a reversible swinging pendulum first invented by the british physicist henry. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum s mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position. The positions of m1 and m2 along the bar are adjusted until the period of oscillations t1 around ao1 is equal to the period of oscillation t2 around ao2. Mercer university macon, georgia 31207 with the information provided in this article, students should be able to easily measure the acceleration of gravity to a few parts in tenthousand in one twohour laboratory period. Our experiment may be similar to one you have done in high school, however, the mathematical analysis will be more. Kater pendulum theoretical considerations randall d. Measurement of moment of inertia of different bodies and proof of parallel. However, a real pendulum is not a simple pendulum, and the effective length le of a real pendulum can be difficult to define. The errors taken into account are just on the kater period t and the distance between the two pivot points l.
Turner apr 8, 2009 in 1817, british physicist henry kater developed a reversible pendulum which allows one to precisely measure the local acceleration due to gravity. Be sure that the pendulum swings straight through the gate. The principle of reversible katers pendulum and why its rods ends are pointed. Heuristic objectives to show what is involved in making a high precision measurement of an unknown quantity. Set up katers pendulum, making sure it swings freely. Examine this book, ponder the meaning we have dispersed in various places and gathered again. Simple and compound pendulums tm161 experiment simple and compound pendulums. A compound pendulum has an extended mass, like a swinging bar, and is free to oscillate about a horizontal axis. Around 1817, henry kater used a reversable pendulum now called a katers pendulum to make extremely accurate measurements of the acceleration due to gravity to simplify a little. Analysis graph of time taken for 10 complete oscillations versus length of simple pendulum. To determine the value of g at niser using a reversible pendulum. The simplest form of the kater pendulum is as shown. The principle of reversible katers pendulum and why its.
Experimentally, kater s pendulum was used to accurately measure the local acceleration of gravity. Katers pendulum full explanation determination of g. Langley physics department, university of massachusetts, amherst, massachusetts 01003 received 9 november 2000. The wider the gap in the crutch wire the longer it takes the crutch to catch up to the pendulum rod.
The pendulum shown lying down, above is hung vertically and pivots on a knife edge that rests on glass. The katers pendulum consists of a rigid metal bar with two pivot points, one near each end. The reversible pendulum kater s pendulum has two pivot points on opposite sides of the centre of gravity from which the pendulum can be suspended as shown in fig. Find out information about katers reversible pendulum. Related threads on the principle of reversible katers pendulum and why its rods ends are pointed katers pendulum. In practice, the movable mass is divided into two or more elements to enable coarse and fine adjustment. Katers pendulum stuart field and eric hazlett abstract in this lab we will determine the value of the acceleration of gravity g by using a reversible pendulum. The simple gravity pendulum is an idealized mathematical model of a pendulum. To determine the value of acceleration due to gravity with katers pendulum. When the pendulums center of mass is below the pivot, the pendulum is in a equilibrium point i. Acceleration due to gravity g by bar pendulum object.
Moment of inertia with respect to the axis of oscillation ao. Its experimental setup procedure involved and applications of katers pendulum. In 1817, kater, following a suggestion from bessel, developed a reversible pendulum that made possible an extremely accurate measurement of the acceleration due to earths gravity, g. Katers pendulum since at least 1965, the cavendish laboratory physics course included an experiment to measure g to better than 1 part in 10,000 using katers pendulum. To determine the value of acceleration due to gravity and radius of gyration using bar pendulum. A katers pendulum is a reversible free swinging pendulum invented by british physicist and army captain henry kater in 1817 for use as a gravimeter instrument to measure the local acceleration of gravity. Katers pendulum is an example of compound pendulum, which is used to determine the value of g and has many other. Each of the sliding objects can be clamped in place on the rod. To verify the acceleration due to gravity using a katers pendulum. The katers pendulum is used to measure the acceleration due to gravity more accurately. Moreover, the pendulum is provided with wedgeshaped knives o 1 and o 2, so that we can hang it on a. The cubic perioddistance relation for the kater reversible pendulum.
What it shows an important application of the pendulum is the. This results in the pendulum receiving an abrupt hit late in its oscillation rather than a full. Measurement of the acceleration of gravity using katers. The general formula of the time period for bar pendulum is given by following equation. The reversion pendulum was developed by henry kater. A physical pendulum is a rigid body swing in a vertical plane about any horizontal axis passing. The simple pendulum is a favorite introductory exercise because galileos experiments on pendulums in the early 1600s are usually regarded as the beginning of experimental physics. The pendulum sits on one of two knifeedged pivots that is attached to the. The period of a physical pendulum depends on the moment of inertia of the device which, in practice, is almost impossible to determine accurately. The katers reversible pendulum is made of a rigid metal bar on which are inserted two massive discs m 1 and m 2 that can scroll along the bar and be fixed in different positions in order to change the position of center of gravity of the pendulum.
The time taken for the pendulum to increase make one complete oscillation will when the 9. Peters department of physics mercer university macon, georgia 31207 1 idealized kater pendulum consider a uniform rectangular pendulum as illustrated in figure 1. The other two pendulums will yield far less precise values and it is important to determine the errors for each pendulum to allow a discussion of the precision of the values of g. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. We describe a bessel pendulum for use in the teaching laboratory, and measurements of the local acceleration of gravity made with it to an accuracy of better than one part in 104. The objective is to compare the value and accuracy of g using each pendulum in turn. Pendulums have played an important role in the history of dynamics. Katers pendulum is a pendulum that consists of a steel arm with a length of about one and a half meters. Kater s pendulum should yield a value precise to three significant figures. With 2012 looming in the not so distant future and bearing down on us rapidly, our ability to create safe environments for. A reversible pendulum, knife edges, support stands, photodetectorstop watch, measuring tapescale. Too much play and the crutch loop will have to travel too far to catch up to the swinging pendulum before imparting impulse.
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. After two centuries, still the most elegant determination of g. Reversible katers pendulum harvard natural sciences lecture. Katers reversible pendulum mechanics oscillations objective work out the local acceleration due to gravity with the help of a reversible pendulum ue1050221 ue1050221 basic principles a reversible pendulum is a special design of a normal physical pendulum. This is why the kater reversible pendulum is one of the favourite instruments for. The pendulum is an exquisitely simple divination tool that is used for discovering information outside of our normal awareness. Lecture l24 pendulums a pendulum is a rigid body suspended from a.
The reversible pendulum is a pendulum that can be swung from either of two pivot points. Purpose in this experiment, we use a kater pendulum to measure the acceleration due to gravity, g, in our location in seattle, wa, and compare it to the accepted value, as well as the value we obtained in our previous experiment with the simple pendulum. If all the mass is assumed to be concentrated at a point, we obtain the idealized simple pendulum. Real pendulums are subject to friction and air drag, so the amplitude of their swings. We describe a bessel pendulum for use in the teaching laboratory, and measurements of the local. It is able to swing from either of two mounting points and can be set up in such a way that the period of oscillation is the same from both these points. The period for this arrangement can be proved 2 to be the same as that of a simple pendulum whose length l is the distance between the two knife edges. To investigate the relationship between the length of a simple pendulum and the period of its motion. Bessels improved kater pendulum in the teaching lab. The following formula is used for the determination of acceleration due to gravity g. Experiment for studying simple harmonic motion and the factors that affect the period of oscillation of pendulums. Katers pendulum definition is a compound pendulum with adjustable knife edges placed respectively at the center of suspension and near the center of oscillation and used to determine acceleration of gravity by means of the period of oscillation.
This is a weight or bob on the end of a massless cord suspended from a pivot, without friction. And since the individual displacements are not known we actually know, via measurement, their sum, then our formula is actually 2 2. Katers innovation was to realize that, if one built an asymmetrical, doubleended pendulum as is shown schematically in fig. It has a large mass near the end on one side, and a small her mass near the other end.
A katers pendulum is a reversible free swinging pendulum invented by british physicist and. Join us on facebook download the experiment from the link be. Umberto eco foucalts pendulum only for you, children of doctrine and learning, have we written this work. It is able to swing from either of two mounting points and can be. Bessel in 18264 is apparently much less familiar to present date physicists. One can eliminate the dependence of the period of a physical pendulum on i by using a katers pendulum, which is a physical pendulum that has a pivot point a knife edge on each end. String, pendulum bob, meter stick, computer with uli interface, and a photogate.
The final part of the experiment is to measure the validity of this approximation by varying the amplitude of oscillation of katers pendulum and recording the. Nowadays pendulum mechanisms are more often used in. Bessels improved kater pendulum in the teaching lab d. The katers pendulum used in the instructional laboratories is diagramed below and its adjustments are described in the setting it up section. A clever improvement to the kater pendulum devised by. The simple pendulum university of colorado boulder. Acceleration due to gravity g by katers pendulum object. Help with determining errors on katers pendulum experiment.
When given an initial push, it will swing back and forth at a constant amplitude. For about a century, until the 1930s, katers pendulum and its various refinements remained the standard method for. The pendulum with a longer string longer takes time to oscillate than the pendulum with a shorter string. To understand what he did, we will first look at simple pendula and then we will develop katers. A simple pendulum consists of a small bob suspended by a light massless string of length l. Its advantage is that, unlike previous pendulum gravimeters, the pendulum s centre of gravity and center of oscillation do not have to be determined, allowing a greater accuracy. Katers pendulum konstantinos filippakos the use of.
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