Which pendulum will come to rest more quickly-a lighter pendulum or heavier pendulum?

 

 

This week I was given a guided inquiry investigation in which I had to test when would come to rest first a lighter pendulum or a heavier pendulum.  I first had to make a hypothesis before starting the experiment.  I thought about the question and came up with; I feel the lighter pendulum will come to rest first.

 

Next, I had to decide how I was going to test this theory.  First, I took out the large washer and the medium washer and a string.  Then I decided to tie the larger washer to the string sixty centimeters long.  Finally, I decided to use a forty-five degree angle to swing the pendulum.  The larger pendulum took more time than what I thought it would take. In fact the pendulum was still moving after 20 minutes.  Now it was time to test the smaller pendulum using the same variables.  This also took more them then what I thought it should.    Due to the experiment taking so long I wanted to retest it in another way which would be a controlled environment.  The way in which I decided to retest the experiment was by going onto an internet site call Pendulum Lab.  I found out the length of the string and the weight of the pendulum would cause the pendulum to start and stop at a different rate. 

 

As I was completing the experiment on my own I watched the pendulum as I swung it.  When I used the longer string the pendulum would swing more evenly. Where when I use a shorter string the pendulum changed the way in which it would swing.  With all of the testing I completed and the help of Pendulum Lab I found out the large pendulum would continue to swing whereas the smaller one came to rest first.