AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY–BANGLADESH (AIUB)

FACULTY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
PHYSICS LAB 1
Summer 2020-2021
Section: , Group:

LAB REPORT : 1
To determine the acceleration due to gravity applying linear least square regression method
by using a simple pendulum.

Supervised By

Submitted By
Name ID Contribution

Date of Submission:
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOPICS Page no.

I. Title Page 1
II. Table of Content 2
1. Theory 3
2. Apparatus 5
3. Procedure 6
4. Experimental Data 7
5. Analysis and Calculation 8
6. Result 11
7. Discussion 11
8. References 12

Lab Report Department of Physics Page 2 of 12

1. Theory

The period of the motion for a pendulum is how long it takes to swing back-and-forth,
measured in seconds. The equation for the period of a simple pendulum starting at a small
angle θ (theta – A Greek letter) is:

T = 2π√(L/g)

where

• T is the period in seconds (s)

• π is the Greek letter pi and is approximately 3.14
• √ is the square root of what is included in the parentheses
• L is the length of the rod or wire in meters or feet
• g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s² or 32 ft/s² on Earth)

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 Figure 1 : A swinging simple pendulum with an effective length L and amplitude θ.

The time period equation of a simple pendulum can be rearranged as

𝟒𝛑𝟐
𝐓𝟐 = 𝐋
𝐠

If we Compare this time period equation with the state line equation which is go through the
origin (y = mx) then we can find the acceleration due to gravity can be determined by

𝟒𝛑𝟐
𝐠=
𝐦

where m is the slope of the T2 vs L graph.

Let us consider two variables, x & y [y = f(x)]. These are plotted on a graph with values of x
on the x-axis values of y on the y-axis. These values are represented by the dots in the below
graph. A straight line is drawn through the dots – referred to find the best fitted line
(regression line) as the fig. 2 shows.

y
=f(x)
d d
6 7

d
d d 5 y = mx + c
d 3 4
d 2

1
c
x
Lab Report Department of Physics Page 4 of 12
Figure 2: Way to get the best fitted line by finding the minimum value of

𝐃 = 𝐝𝟐𝟏 + 𝐝𝟐𝟐 + 𝐝𝟐𝟑 + 𝐝𝟐𝟒 + 𝐝𝟐𝟓 + 𝐝𝟐𝟔 + 𝐝𝟐𝟕

according to the least square regression method. The equation for the best fitted line is y =
mx + c, where m is the slope and c is the interception in the y axis. Here the number of data
points is taken as N=7.

The formula for determining the slope of the regression line

(∑ 𝐱 )(∑ 𝐲 )
∑ 𝐢 𝐱 𝐢 𝐲𝐢 − 𝐢 𝐢 𝐢 𝐢
𝐍
𝐦= 𝟐 (slope equation)
(∑ 𝐱 )
∑𝐢 𝐱 𝐢 𝟐 − 𝐢 𝐢
𝐍

and intercept 𝐜 = 𝐲̅- m 𝐱̅, where x̅ and y̅ are mean value of x and y.
In the slope equation:
∑𝒊 𝒙𝒊 = 𝒙𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 + 𝒙𝟒 + 𝒙𝟓 + 𝒙𝟔 + 𝒙𝟕 ,
∑ 𝒊 𝒚𝒊 = 𝒚𝟏 + 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒚𝟑 + 𝒚𝟒 + 𝒚𝟓 + 𝒚𝟔 + 𝒚𝟕 ,
∑𝒊 𝒙𝒊 𝒚𝒊 = 𝒙𝟏 𝒚𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟑 + 𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟒 + 𝒙𝟓 𝒚𝟓 + 𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟔 +
𝒙𝟕 𝒚𝟕 , ,
(∑𝒊 𝒙𝒊 )𝟐 = (𝒙𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 + 𝒙𝟒 + 𝒙𝟓 + 𝒙𝟔 + 𝒙𝟕 )𝟐 ,
∑ 𝒙𝟐𝒊 = 𝒙𝟐𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐𝟐 + 𝒙𝟐𝟑 + 𝒙𝟐𝟒 + 𝒙𝟐𝟓 + 𝒙𝟐𝟔 +𝒙𝟐𝟕
𝒊

2. Apparatus
• Metal bob.
• A piece of string.
• Stand.
• Clamp.
• Meter scale.
• Stop watch

Lab Report Department of Physics Page 5 of 12

3. Procedure
First, we have to attach a light piece of string with the hook of the metal bob, then we find the
length L of the pendulum with a meter scale from the point of suspension to the mid-point of
the bob.
Secondly, we have to Give a small angle (less than 10 degrees) swing to the pendulum and
find the time period, T. To do it, we have to measure the total time for 20 oscillations and
divide it by 20. After that, Repeat the procedure for different lengths and record the data in
table. Then, we have to using the Linear Least Square Regression Method (LLSRM) to find the
regression line and from the value of slope and find g from the relation: slope = 4π2 /g.
Lastly, we are going to plot the same graph in Excel and then we find the value of g from the
equation of the g

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4. Experimental Data

No. Effective Time

Time for 20 L.T2
of Length period T2 L2
Obs. Oscillations
t (cm.s2 )
L T = t/20 (s2) (cm2)
(s)
(cm) (s)
1

150 48.52 2.426 5.8854 22500 882.81

140 46.78 2.339 5.4710 19600 765.94

130 45.38 2.269 5.1483 16900 669.279

120 43.81 2.1905 4.7982 14400 575.784

110 42.66 2.133 4.5496 12100 500.456

100 39.78 1.989 3.9561 10000 395.61

90 38.21 1.9105 3.6500 8100 328.5

∑ 840 305.14 15.257 33.4586 103600 4118.069

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5. Analysis and Calculation

Table 1.2: Finding the slope, m and intercept, c by using the linear least square
regression method.

2
N ∑ 𝑥𝑖 ∑ 𝑦𝑖 ∑ 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 ∑ 𝑥𝑖2 m c
(∑ 𝑥𝑖 )
𝑖 𝑖 𝑖 𝑖 𝑖

7 840 33.4586 4118.069 705600 103600 0.03679 0.3758

Equation: y = mx + c
y = 0.03679x + 0.3750

A. The value of g using the LLSRM:

(∑ x )(∑ y )
∑ i xi yi − i i i i
N
m= 2 =
(∑ x )
∑ i xi 2 − i i
N

= ((4118.069)-(840*33.4586)/7)/(103600-(705600/7))
=103.037 / 2800
= 0.03679

x i
840
x = i
= = 120
N 7

y i
y = i
= 33.4586 / 7 = 4.7798
N

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Intercept, c = y – mx = 4.7798 – m*(120) = 4.7798 – 4.404 = 0.3758

4𝜋2
Acceleration due to gravity by LLSRM, 𝑔𝐿 = 𝑚

= (4*(3.1416)^2)/ 0.03679
= 1073.0797

B. The value of g from the graph of Excel:

150 5.884

140 5.471

130 5.1483

120 4.7982

110 4.5496

100 3.9561

90 3.65

Lab Report Department of Physics Page 9 of 12

 Graph of time period(T^2 vs L)
7

6 y = 0.0369x + 0.3522
5

4
T(s^2)

0
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160
L(cm)

Slope of the regression line, m = 0.0369

4𝜋2
Acceleration due to gravity by Excel, 𝑔𝐸 = 𝑚

= (4*(3.1416)^2)/ 0.0369
= 1069.875816

C. Percentage of difference in g between Excel and LLSRM:

𝑔𝐸 ~ 𝑔𝐿 𝑔𝐿 − 𝑔𝐸
𝑔𝐸
× 100 = 𝑔𝐸
× 100

= 0.29899

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6. Result

Method Value of g (m/s2) Comment

LLSRM 0.03679
We have to be careful whenever we calculate the
value. Otherwise, we can not find a similar value like
the excel sheet.

Excel 0.0369

7. Discussion
From the analysis done on an excel spreadsheet, the gravitational acceleration g was found as cm/s2.
This practical value did not agree with the theoretical value of cm/s2 due to uncertainties in the
experiment, which accounted for m/s2. The test is a simple one and from the analysis process of the
simple pendulum equation, it interprets that the only factor affecting the period of an oscillating
object about a center pivot is the length from the Centre of the mass and the gravitational
acceleration. The period T of oscillation is, therefore, does not depend on other factors such as the
mass of the body. For oscillators operating under simple harmonics, the period is nearly independent
of the amplitude for cases where angular displacement θ is small (≤ 10o). The simple pendulum
concept finds use in devices such as pendulum clocks. However, the results obtained were not
accurate due to uncertainties and errors arising from the experiment. The errors include the lag in
stopping the stopwatch after Lab Report Department of Physics Page 10 of 10 the oscillations,
parallax errors in reading the angular displacement, and the random errors in taking measurements
such as lengths of the pendulum

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8. References

School for champions (https://www.school-for-champions.com/science/pendulum_equations.htm)

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