Your 'pearl pendulum' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
** Your general comment, if any: **
** Your description of the rhythm of the pendulum when tilted 'back' **
The sound of the ball hitting the bracket gets faster as time passes. The ball hits the bracket less in the beginning and more right before it stops
** Your description of the rhythm of the pendulum when tilted 'forward' **
The pendulum strikes the bracket less and less with each strike. The sounds get further apart.
** Your description of the process used to keep the rhythm steady and the results you observed: **
I held the back of the bracket down to make sure it was still and the pendulum just rested on the other end of the bracket. The rhythm was quite steady each time I pulled the pendulum back. The pendulum hit the bracket 15 times.
** Your description of what happened on the tilted surface (textbook and domino), rotating the system 45 degrees at a time: **
In the first position with the end parallel with the book, the pendulum hit the bracket at a fairly constant rate. When the bracket was positioned 45 degrees, the pendulum started constant and them became faster until it stopped. When positioned another 45 degrees with the side parallel to the end of the book and the pendulum on the raised end of the book, it hit the bracket at an increased rate. The next 45 degrees, the pendulum hit again at a slight constant rate and moved to a faster rate. The next 45 degrees, the long end of the bracket was parallel to the bottom end of the book and it hit at a fairly constant rate. The next 45 degrees, the bracket was on a downhill slope which resulted in a slower hit of the bracket. Next, the bracket was angled downhill with the long end parallel to the side of the book which resulted in the pendulum slowing down rather quickly. Finally, the last 45 degree angle resulted on a fairly constant hit.
** Your description of how you oriented the bracket on the tilted surface to obtain a steady rhythm: **
Starting with the long end of the bracket parallel to the end of the book, the beat of the pendulum was quite regular at the position of 45 degrees, 135 degrees, 225 degrees and 315 degree position.
** Your report of 8 time intervals between release and the second 'hit': **
.391
.406
.343
.391
.438
.359
.375
.406
** Your report of 4 trials timing alternate hits starting with the second 'hit': **
.434, .594, .531, .547, .500
.484, .594, .672, .594, .516, .562, .547
.438, .594, .578, .563, .578, .516, .531
.516, .531, .641, .531, .578, .563
** The length of your pendulum in cm (you might have reported length in mm; the request in your instructions might have been ambiguous): **
82 mm
** Your time intervals for alternate 'hits', starting from release until the pendulum stops swinging: **
.47, .11, .07
** Your description of the pendulum's motion from release to the 2d hit: **
The motion of the pendulum between the release and the first hit is equal to letting go at the extreme point and it bounced off of the equilibrium point.
** Your description of the pendulum's motion from the 2d hit to 4th hit: **
Between the first and second hit, the pendulum is going from its equilibrium point to the extreme point and back to the equilibrium point. The motion differs from the release and first hit position because the measurement is between 2 different points.
** Your description of the difference in the pendulum's motion from release to the 2d 'hit', compared to the motion from the 2d 'hit' to the 4th hit: **
Release to the second hit has more momentum than the distance between the second and fourth hit.
** Your description of the difference in the pendulum's motion from the 2d to the 4th 'hit' compared to the motion from the 4th to 6th hit: **
Again, the motion between the second and the fourth hit is slower than the fourth and sixth hit.
** Your conjecture as to why a clear difference occurs in some intervals vs. others: **
Because of the momentum that builds up from the release to the first hit.
** What evidence is there that subsequent intervals increase, decrease or remain the same: **
It depends on the position of the bracket. If it is tilted forward, the time intervals should decrease, if it's tilted backward the time intervals should increase and if it's flat, the time intervals should be reasonably constant.
** What evidence is there that the time between 'hits' is independent of the amplitude of the swing? **
In this specific experiment, that hypothesis wouldn't be complete because the angle of the bracket has a large bearing on the strikes of the pendulum hitting it.
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45 min
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&#Your work looks good. Let me know if you have any questions. &#