Name
Date
The Effects of Spring Tension on Connected Pendulums
In this experiment you will investigate how the motion of two pendulums depends on the tension in
a spring connecting them.
Every pendulum has a resonant frequency which depends on its length. In this experiment two
pendulums are connected by a spring, so they have the same length and thus the same natural
frequencies. Every time the first pendulum swings, it pulls on the connecting spring and gives the
second pendulum a small tug. Since the springs have the same length, these tugs will occur at the
same frequency as the resonant frequency and the second pendulum will spring too.
As soon as the second pendulum starts to swing it starts pulling back on the first pendulum - timed
so that the first pendulum slows down. Eventually the first pendulum stops – it has transferred all its
energy to the second pendulum but now the original situation is exactly reversed.
Apparatus
1 Spring
2 2 Pendulum Bobs
3 String
4 Ruler
5 Retort stand, boss and clamps
Procedure
Measure and record the unstretched length l 0 of the coiled part of the spring.
l 0=¿
Set up the apparatus as below, positioning the stands so that the coiled part of the spring has a length
which is approximately l 0 +2 cm:
Measure and record the length l of the coiled part of the spring and calculate the extension
x=l−l 0 :
l=¿
x=¿
Gently pull bob A towards you. Release the bob and study the movement of the two bobs. Bob A will
stop and start moving again. It will then stop for a second time. Determine and record the time T
between these two stops.
T =¿
By moving the stands further apart take measurements for different readings of x and T for values of
x between 2 cm and 10 cm indicating any errors. Then plot a graph of your results and interpret
Extension
Count the total number of swings per minute when you start both pendulums together and they swing
back and forth, side by side.
Compare that to the number of swings per minute when you start them opposite one another—that is,
with one pulled forward and one pulled backward an equal distance from the string, and then released
at the same time.
The difference between those two numbers exactly equals the number of times per minute that the
pendulums pass the energy back and forth if you start just one pendulum while the other hangs at
rest.
Physicists call these two particular motions normal modes of the two-pendulum system, and they call
the difference between the frequencies of the normal modes a beat frequency
