Pendulum Motion

The Pendulum Motion Video Tutorial provides a wealth of details about the motion of a pendulum. Discussion topics include forces, free-body diagrams, force analysis with components, changes in speed and direction, position-time graphs, velocity-time graphs, changes in kinetic and potential energy, and the period-length relationship.

The video lesson answers the following questions:

How does the force, acceleration, position, velocity, kinetic energy, and potential energy change over the course of a pendulum’s path?
What factors affect the period of a pendulum and how?

Video

You can watch the video below, or click here to watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab).

To improve the effectiveness of the learning experience, The Physics Classroom has provided the following tools:

Additional and Related Learning Tools

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Period and Frequency of a Pendulum
Students love Concept Builders! And they help. Here's one on the period of a pendulum. Give it a try!

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Pendulum Motion - Velocity and Force
This Concept Builder provides a great opportunity to put to practice the ideas in the first half of the video. Give yourself the essential check for understanding as the video and Concept Builder were designed to be paired together.

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Energy of a Pendulum
Here is a final Concept Builder that will provide a check of understanding of the concepts of speed and energy. Give it a try and boost your confidence.

Physics Classroom Tutorial: Vibrations and Waves Chapter, Lesson 0 - Pendulum Motion
Our written tutorial pages provide a thorough, easy-to-understand, common-sense approach to Physics topics. This particular page addresses the same topics covered in the video. As such, it makes a great reference for a quick check-up or clarification of an idea.

The Calculator Pad: Vibrations and Waves, Problem Set WM2
The Calculator Pad features practice problems with immediate feedback and links to audio help and tutorial pages. In Problem Set WM2, you must use the period formula on Slide 11 to solve for an unknown. Great practice!

Teacher Resources

Curriculum Corner : Wave Motion
We will admit ... it's a bit early for Waves. But if that's a topic that is coming up after vibrational motion, then you might wish to inspect what we have now in our Curriculum Corner section. This is free curriculum for the taking. And for a few extra bucks, you can obtain the source documents and purchase a license to place them and any deriviative from them on your course management pages.

Physics Interactives: Pendulum Motion Simulator
It's going to be difficult to find a more thorough simulator of Pendulum Motion than this one. Best of all, it comes with a classroom-ready student

student activity sheet
that you can print out and use with your classes today (or tomorrow or next week). This is a MUST-VISIT page if you spend time teaching pendulum motion; you must at least see what it has to offer.

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Period and Frequency of a Pendulum
Concept Builders provide great practice for students. Questions are randomly delivered. Answers are evaluated. And for those with Task Tracker account, progress results are stored in our database. Here's great practice on period and frequency.

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Pendulum Motion - Velocity and Force
This Concept Builder provides a great opportunity for students to practice the ideas in the first half of the video. Best of all, the video and Concept Builder were designed to be paired together.

Concept Builders: Vibrational Motion, Energy of a Pendulum
Here is a final Concept Builder that will provide a check of understanding of the concepts of speed and energy. Encourage students to give it a try. Have a Task Tracker account? Add this to your assignment board.

The Calculator Pad: Vibrations and Waves, Problem Set WM2
The Calculator Pad features practice problems with immediate feedback and links to audio help and tutorial pages. In Problem Set WM2, students use the period formula on Slide 11 to solve for an unknown. Great practice! And with a Task Tracker account, you can make it an assignment and check on student results.

Science Reasoning Center: Vibrations and Waves
Our Science Reasoning Center is the perfect place to find that activity that upgrades the level of critical thinking, data analysis, model-building, and careful reading. This is where Process is king and content is just the medium. Get students thinking and reasoning at the Science Reasoning Center. We have some activities on pendulum motion and vibrating masses on springs.

Lesson Notes

Download (opens in a new tab) or view below

Slides

Do you like the slides we used? They are available in our low cost Teacher Presentation Pack, along with other updated materials used in our presentation.