ABSTRACT.

The aim ofexperiment was targeted to determine the radius of gyration ,where the experiment
performed under room temperature by using instruments such as retort stand,small pieces of wooden
block ,triangular card board,a needle,a digital stopwatch and a piece of cotton thread.During the
experiment, triangular sheet card board was made to oscillate freely along its hole inserted at a needle.
The time was recorded for every 10 small complete oscillations three times and the average time was
used to calculate the periodic time T. The data obtained was used to plot a graph h 2 (cm2) against T2 h
(sec2 cm). From the graph the slope was calculated and was found to be 25.56 cm/sec2 also from the
graph the y- intercept was found to be -58.5cm2 . The slope obtained significantly was used to calculate
the acceleration due to gravity g which was found to be 1009cm/sec2 . Also, the radius of gyration was
calculated by taking the square root of the y-intercept and was found to be 7.65cm. The value of g
obtained was seemed to deviate from the known value of acceleration due to gravity which is
980cm/sec2 And the percentage error calculated was found to be 2.96%. The deviation was due to
various factors such as air resistance,friction and error in starting and stopping the stopwatch.
 INTRODUCTION.

Compound pendulum is a system in which a swinging rigid body oscillates about a fixed axis that does
not pass through its center of mass and the body cannot be approximated as a point mass.The physical
pendulum provided for this experiment consists of a triangular card board, A rectangular cardboard is a
rigid body that can oscillate about a fixed horizontal axis passing through any pivot point other than its
center of mass. When the triangular sheet card board is suspended with its hole on a needle and set into
oscillation, its periodic time of oscillation changes depending on the position of the hole from the center
of mass G. The physical pendulum differs from the simple pendulum in that it has mass distributed along
its length that is, its mass is not concentrated at a given point, therefore it has a mass m, moment of
inertial I and is suspended at a given distance h from its center of gravity g.

The force of gravity acts on all bodies on earth. Every bit of mass in a body has weight. The whole weight
seems to be concentrated at a point inside or outside the body. This point is the centre of gravity of the
body. The weight of a body or object acts through its centre of gravity. The Centre of gravity of an object
is the point through which the total weight of the body can be considered to act. The point where the
total mass of the body seems to act is the centre of gravity. The centre of gravity of all bodies can be
determined by balancing the body on a knife edge or by suspension with a plumb line from several
points. In most cases, the centre of gravity of a body lies in the body itself, but in few cases such as the
horse-shoe magnet, the retort stand, Bunsen burner, wine glass and conical flask, the centre of gravity
lies outside.

. To study the properties of a compound pendulum, and to determine the acceleration due to gravity by
the use of such a pendulum. A simple pendulum consists of a point mass (generally spherical) suspended
from a string of negligible mass and length. Its other end is fixed to a rigid support O. For small
displacements from the equilibrium position, the point mass executes simple harmonic motion with
time period, (time taken for one oscillation): where is the acceleration due to gravity. As for the simple
pendulum, the restoring force of the physical pendulum is the force of gravity. With the simple
pendulum, the force of gravity acts on the center of the pendulum bob. In the case of the physical
pendulum, the force of gravity acts on the center of mass (CM) of an object. The center of gravity of the
object is the point through which the total weight of the body can be considered to act. The point the
total mass of the body seems to act is the center of gravity. The center of gravity of all bodies can be
determined by balancing the body on a knife edge or by suspension with a plumb line from several
points. In most cases, the center of gravity of a body lies in the body itself, but few cases such as the
horse-shoe magnet, the retort stand, Bunsen burner, wine glass and conical flask, the center of gravity
lies outside. The object oscillates about a point. Simple pendulum is an ideal oscillatory mechanism,
which executes SHM. The restoring mechanism, in this case, is provided by gravitational force. Simple
pendulum is simple in construction. It consists of a "particle" mass hanging from a string. The other end
of the string is fixed. The overriding requirement of simple pendulum, executing SHM, can be stated in
two supplementary ways: Mechanical energy of the oscillating system is conserved.proportional to
negative of angular displacement.

THEORY.
 simple pendulum is another mechanical system that exhibits periodic motion. It consists ofa particle-
like bob of mass m suspended by a light string of length L that is fixed at the upperend. The motion
occurs in the vertical plane and is driven by the gravitational force. We shallshow that, provided the
angle θ is small (less than about 108), the motion is very close to that ofa simple harmonic oscillator. The
forces acting on the bob are the force exerted by the string andthe gravitational force mg S. The
tangential component mg sin θ of the gravitational forcealways acts toward θ =0, opposite the
displacement of the bob from the lowest position.Therefore, the tangential component is a restoring
force, and we can apply Newton’s second law for motion in tangential direction

;F = ma,-Mgsinθ = m2s/d2....................................1where the negative sign indicates that the

tangential force acts toward the equilibrium (vertical) position and s is the bob’s position measured
along the arc. The period of the motion is;l = 2√ … … … … … … … … … … … … 2Where g is the
acceleration due to gravity. This relationship affords one of the simplest and mostsatisfactory methods
of determining g experimentally.When the dimensions of the suspended body are not negligible in
comparison with the distancefrom the axis of suspension to the center of gravity, the pendulum is called
a compound, or physical, pendulum. Anybody mounted upon a horizontal axis so as to vibrate under the
force of gravity is a compound pendulum. The motion of such a body is an angular vibration about
theaxis of suspension. The expression for the period of a compound pendulum may be deducedfrom the
general expression for the period of any angular simple harmonic motion
 The figure above represents a compound pendulum of mass m, consisting of a rectangular bar AB
towhich a cylindrical mass M is attached. The pendulum is suspended on a transverse axis throughthe
point S. In the diagram, the cylindrical mass M is represented as being exactly in the middleof the bar,
thereby making a symmetrical system in which the center of gravity G is at thegeometrical center.
Obviously, this particular condition is a very special case, and has nothingwhatever to do with the
general treatment of the problem.In the equilibrium position, the centerof gravity G is vertically below
the axis of suspension S. When the body is rotated through anangle θ, the weight of the system mg,
which may be regarded as concentrated at the center ofgravity, exerts a restoring torque about S given
L= mgh sinQ.........................................(4)

where h is the distance from the axis of suspension to the center of gravity. If a minus sign isused to
indicate the tact that the torque L is opposite in sign to the displacement θ, Eqs. (3) And(4) yield

Ia=-mgh sinQ.........................................(5)When the angular displacement θ is sufficiently small, sinθ is

approximately equal to θ measured in radians. With this restriction Eq. (5) may be written

a=-mghQ/I.....................eqn 6

since m, g, h and I are all numerically constant for any given case, Eq. (6), may be writtensimply =
−k...........................................................(7)Where k is a constant. Equation (7) is the defining equation of
angular simple harmonic motion,i.e., motion in which the angular acceleration is directly proportional to
the angular displacementand oppositely directed. Since the system executes angular simple harmonic
motion, substitutionof the expression for a from Eq. (6) in Eq. (2) yields the equation for the period of a
compound pendulum=2 √ Imgh...........................................................(8)Where I is the rotational inertia
of the pendulum about the axis of suspension S. It is convenientto express I in terms of I, the rotational
inertia of the body about an axis through its center of ₀ gravity G. If the mass of the body is m,  o=
²Whereko is the radius of gyration about an axis through G. For any regular body, ko can
becomputed by means of the appropriate formula (see any handbook of physics or engineering); for an
irregular body it must be determined experimentally. The rotational inertia about any axis parallel to the
one through the center of gravity is given by = 0 + ℎWhere h is the distance between the two
axes. Substitution of the relationships of Eqs. (9) And(10) in Eq. (8) yields
=2√(2+ℎ2)...........................................9ghThis equation expresses the period in terms of the
geometry of the body. It shows that the periodis independent of the mass, depending only upon the
distribution of the mass (as measured byko) and upon the location of the axis of suspension (as specified
by h). Since the radius of

METHODOLOGY.

The following below were the instruments used with their uses.
instruments Diagram uses.

retort stand

used to hold the pieces of

wooden block with cardboard.

digital stopwatch

used to provide interval of time

in an experiment.

pieces of wooden block used to hold the pin to well

handled in a retort stand.
neddle used to provide oscillation to
atriangular card board.

The following below were the procedures involved during an experiment ...

I. firstly the triangular card board was taken then was hanged to a retort stand at the same time
the weighted string used for the location of center of Gravity G .
II. the line joining the G and the apex of the card board was drawn ,then the distance of 1.5cm was
measured from G along the line GA and the hole was made at that point followed with other 5
holes with the same interval of distances.
III. after there the triangular card board was suspended to a retort stand which clamped with
wooden block and the pin for the board to attach on it about the first hole nearest the center of
gravity and perpendicularly the distance h was recorded which was the distance of the point of
suspension from G and the stopwatch was ready for the record of time after 10 oscillation and
the period of time was obtained.
IV. this was done the same to other five remained holes and their time for completion of oscillation
was recorde.
The following below showing the experimental set up.
DATA.
 DATA ANALYSIS.

d)from the graph ploted the points obtained were

h12 =27cm2 and h22 =45.41cm2

T2 h=3.28 and T2 h=4 sec2 cm

for a slope =change in h2 /change in T2 h

=(45.41-27)/(4-3.28)

slope =25.56cm/sec2

and from the graph the Y intercept crossed at -7.65cm2

thus the value of acceleration due to gravity may be determined by using relation

slope =g/4#2

the g=25.56cm/sec2 ×4#2

=1009cm/sec2

.e)from the equation of period of time of a pendulum bob with relation of moment of inertia.
 T=2#

but moment of inertia I=mh2 +mk2

then substitute to the above equation

T2 =4#2 (mh2 +mk2 )/mgh

T2 mgh=4#2 mh2 +4#2 mk2

4#2 mh2 =T2 mgh-4#2 mk2

h2 =g/4#2 T2 h-k2

hence shown.

f)The aim of the experiment was determination of radius of gyration of triangular card board and
accelaration due to gravity

g)sources of errors

I. starting and stoping of a stopwatch

II. errors in counting the number of oscillations

III. error due to bad suspension of card board.

precaution.
 the stopwatch should be clearly set for start and stop to avoid error with much care
 During counting the number of oscillation the one should be care when start and end the
oscillation.
 the suspension of triangular card board should be well suspended to avoid the fall.

h)The center of gravity of the triangular card board was obtained by suspending the board with string
vertically on it surround to all its apex then the line drawn to join those distances then at the point all
three line met that was the centre of Gravity G.

i)if the osillation made at the centre of the card board the rotational motion was occured.
 DISCUSSION.

The experiment conducted to determine the acceleration due to gravity and the radius ofgyration of a
given triangular card board. The experiment was well conducted as firstly thecenter of gravity of the
given triangular cardboard was determined and the hole was made in it.The given cardboard was
oscillated in the needle and the time was recorded after every 10oscillations at which the six data was
collected. The experimental results obtained was observedthat there is slightly decreases in periodic
time as the height of a card board increases but the product of periodic time with height gives the order
of increasing values. From the experimentalresults obtained, the graph of h2(cm2) against T2h(s2cm)
was drawn, it observed to be straight line passing through the positive x intercept of 1.75 s2cm and the
negative y intercept of 58.5 cm2. Thecalculated value of the slope from the graph was obtained to be
25.56cm/sec². The value of slopeobtained help to determine the acceleraon due to gravity and found
to be equals to1009cm/sec².Furthermore, the radius of gyration (K) also was calculated from the value
of negative y intercept by taking its square root value and gives to 7.65cm.The percentage error
incalculating the value of g was 2.96% which caused by number of errors associated while performing
the experiment. From the analysis shows that the experimental results agree withtheoretical approach,
since the relationship between parameters such as height and periodic timerelated from mathematical
relations that relates these quantities. Graphical presentation of theresults revealed that as the square
of height measured increases, also the product of square of period and height also increasing
significantly, therefore there were a linear relationship betweenthese quantities. Some of errors
associated with this experiment include human errors whenmeasuring the period using a stopwatch.
The reaction time of the observer plays a significanterror when starting the stopwatch and when
stopping it. This error can be minimized byrepeating the experiment many times. Maybe taking the
average of 10 trials is enough as well asinstrument errors in using a digital stopwatch also introduce
errors. To improve more accuracyenvironmental variations of wind movement should be well
controlled.

CONCLUSION .

The purpose of experiment was to determine the acceleration due to gravity and the radius of gyration
of a given triangular card board. The experiment was well conducted and the resultswere obtained as
required although there were a sources of errors that hindered the accuracy of experimental results.
The experiment involved drawing of graph ofℎ2 against T2 h where the graph was a straight line having
negative value of y intercept. The value of the y-intercept was held to determine the radius of gyration
of a given card board which was equal to 7.65cm. Therewere some sources of errors that hindered our
experiment that might raised or lowered the experimental results. Those sources of errors that faced
the experiment ware like parallax error inreading the stopwatch, (time reactions in starting and stopping
the stop watch), fluctuations of environmental conditions and instrumental errors. Some of precautions
to be taken include theuse of average time to reduce the effect of parallax error while taking a readings.
REFERENCE.