Working of a simple pendulum

We have almost certainly seen pendulum clocks in movies, museums or even at someone’s house.

So, the most basic and notable characteristic of a pendulum clock is implied in the name- a pendulum.

Unlike modern clocks, which consists of the electrical or electronics part and are powered by batteries.

Pendulum clocks consist only of mechanical parts that function in absolute harmony to tell accurate time.

Let's study the Working of a simple pendulum

Consider a rubber ball is held at a certain height above the ground.

It has a certain amount of potential energy, which rapidly converts to kinetic energy after it is dropped.

Similarly, in the pendulum clock, a weight attached to a string falls down steadily.

When the bob is at highest, it has maximum potential energy.

As it accelerates down towards its lowest point, this potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.

And then as the bob climbs up again back to the potential energy.

Therefore the bob swings back and forth, it repeatedly switches its energy back and forth between potential and kinetic.

Its movement of back and forth is called the oscillations. Oscillation can be a periodic motion that repeats itself in a regular cycle.

Suppose the mass of the bob is $m$ with a string of length $l$.

The period $T$ depends on the length $l$ of the pendulum and acceleration due to gravity $g$.

So, the time for one complete cycle, a left swing, and a right swing are called the period.

Hence the time period $T$ and length of a string $l$ is directly proportional to each other.

But the square root represents the nonlinear nature So the graph between the $T$ and $l$ is obtained a curve as.

The frequency $f$ is the reciprocal of the time period $T$.

The distance covered by the bob of the pendulum in one second is called the frequency of the pendulum.

Revision

Therefore the bob swings back and forth, it repeatedly switches its energy back and forth between potential and kinetic.

The movement of back and forth is called the oscillations. Oscillation can be a periodic motion that repeats itself in a regular cycle.

So, the time for one complete cycle, a left swing, and a right swing are called the period.

The distance covered by the bob of the pendulum in one second is called the frequency of the pendulum.

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