Swingers

Ask a Question

• How many cycles do you think a pendulum will make in 15 seconds?

• Cycle = swing away from you and back• Pendulum = mass hanging from a fixed point

that is free to swinger to and fro

Form a Hypothesis

• “I think that the swinger will swing ____ times in 15 seconds.”

• “I think this because…”

Test the Hypothesis

• Part 1 – Swingers is out of you Variables FOSS kit.• Materials needed for each group:– String (50cm)– Tape– Pencil– Paperclip– 1 penny– No. 3 Sheet: How to build a swinger? (out of your FOSS

booklet)– Lab report sheet

Test the Hypothesis con’t.

1. Pair up the students.2. Make the swinger.3. Tape a pencil so that the eraser end is hanging off of

a desk.4. Practice releasing the swinger so that it is horizontal

with your desk. 5. One partner releases and counts the other watches

the clock and starts/stops the investigation.6. Repeat the process 3 times.

Collect Data

• On the lab report sheet record the number of cycles that the pendulum swung for each trial.

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

Swinger

Analyze Data

• Create a graph using the table with data.• Label the x-axis (independent variable = Trial

1, Trial 2, Trial 3).• Label the y-axis (dependent variable = number

of swings).• Determine the increments that you want to

use for the y-axis.

Conclusion

• What did you learn about the number of cycles that a pendulum will swing in 15 seconds?

• “My conclusion was that the pendulum swung ____ many times. My hypothesis was correct/incorrect because it actually swung ____ many times.”

Inquire Further

• Do you have any more questions?

• Could you do another experiment and change only one variable?

• Possible answers:– Change the length of the

swinger.– Add additional mass.– Do if for a longer amount

of time.