Saturday, March 26, 2011

Does celestial object size affect pendulum rate?

Question: Does the size of the celestial object affect the rate of a pendulum's swing?

Methods:
The Pendulum Lab was used for this experiment. The angle (45°) , the length (1.5 M), and the mass (2 Kg) were kept constant. The location of the pendulum (Jupiter, Earth and the moon) were the independent variables. The pendulum swing rate was the dependent variable.

Hypothesis:
I hypothesize that the smaller the celestial object (Jupiter > Earth > Moon>) the slower the rate of the pendulum swing.

Observed Data:

Figure 1: 2 cycles of the pendulum swing from 45 degrees with a 2 Kg mass on Jupiter.
Figure 2: 2 cycles of the pendulum swing from 45 degrees with a 2 Kg mass on earth.
Figure 3: 2 cycles of the pendulum swing from 45 degrees with a 2 Kg mass on the moon.

Answer: Yes! I was correct. The smaller the celestial object the slower the pendulum swings, because the smaller the object the less gravitational pull.

Double batteries = Double volts and amps?

Question: Does doubling the number of batteries double the amps and volts?

Methods: For this experiment, the Circuit Construction Kit (DC Only) was used to explore the effects of adding batteries to a complete circuit. I used three wires, one light bulb and two batteries for each circuit. I kept the length of the wires constant.
Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that both the amps and volts will double if the number of batteries are doubled. Figure 1. 1 battery in each circuit.
Figure 2. 2 batteries in each circuit.
Figure 3. 4 batteries in each circuit
Observed Data:


Answer: Yes! My answer was correct. If you double the number if batteries both your amperage and voltage will also double.