Experimental and theoretical calculation of gravity and moment of inertia using a physical pendulum

TL;DR

This paper combines theoretical calculations and experimental measurements using a physical pendulum to determine gravity and moment of inertia, enhancing understanding of rotational dynamics in physics education.

Contribution

It presents a practical implementation of a physical pendulum experiment with analytical and experimental methods to calculate gravity and inertia, including error analysis.

Findings

Theoretical and experimental values of gravity are consistent within error margins.

The method effectively demonstrates rotational dynamics principles.

Experimental data provides accurate estimates of moment of inertia.

Abstract

In the course of basic physics, more precisely the course of classical mechanics should be understood as clearly as possible the subject of rotational dynamics for students of science and engineering, to have clarity with the issues concerning rotational dynamics, such as calculation of torque and forces applied to a moving system. This paper presents the implementation of a physical pendulum for the physics laboratory using mainly a bar and a disc mounted on it, which can be moved along this bar, using implements such as a flexometer to measure the different lengths and a stopwatch to take the oscillation period of the pendulum. This work shows the analytical development using the Simple Harmonic Motion (S.H.M) and experimental for the elaboration of the data collection and the realization of the laboratory with which the moment of inertia and the value of gravity could be obtained. Finally, the theoretical, experimental results and the respective errors obtained by the experiment are shown.