Introduction to Attitudes Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to practice designing an experiment by choosing the variables, using Attitudes to collect the data from the experiment, and then taking our data and presenting it and our results in a report. Method: For this experiment, the goal was to use a simple pendulum (shown to the left) to measure the period of the motion. For task 1, we Just became familiar with Attitudes and learned how to use it to time each “swing” of the ball on the end of the pendulum.
Then, in task 2, using the materials provided we decided that the variables that would have effect on the period are the length of the string, the angle the ball was released, and the size of the ball, which was either the wooden ball or the steel ball. Since we were measuring the length of the string vs.. The mean time of each swing of the pendulum, we kept our angle consistent at around 30 degrees, and did two separate experiments: one with wooden ball and one with the steel ball.
To prove that the angle the ball is released truly matters, my partner and I tested the same Engel at two different angles and discovered that the mean time for each was significantly different. For task 3, I used dimensional analysis to determine the powers in the model equation and to get the dimensionless proportionality constant k from the data we collected in Attitudes. By using dimensional analysis, I was able to arrive at the math model to be able to dissect the equations from my graphs.
