IA Topic : Coupled Pendulums

Introduction
The mechanical resonance of a system is the tendency(1) of a mechanical system s
uch as a vibrating rod to respond at greater amplitude when the frequency of its
oscillations matches the system's resonant frequency or natural frequency of vi
bration. A notable example would be that of a vibrating wine glass which shatter
s when a note of the same resonant frequency is played with a sufficiently large
volume, to it.
An experimental set-up of coupled pendulums is one of the simplest, yet most ele
gant methods to which resonant frequency can be observed and analysed. Varying t
he masses of each individual pendulum can be useful to determine their frequenci
es of vibration with respect to the other pendulum. By doing so, the model of th
is experiment can be implemented at much larger scales, such as that of the tune
d mass damper(1) in Taipei 101, which acts by reducing the amplitude of motion o
f the entire superstructure of the building from seismic waves.

Research Question : How will the vertical distance between the pendula in a coup
led resonant pendulum system affect their frequency of vibration?
Material List
* String for pendulum systems
* Stopwatch
* 2 50g pendula
* Retort stands
* Metre Rule
* Protractor

Experimental Set-Up

Procedure
I set up the diagram as shown above,making sure that the distance between the re
tort stand and both the mass slots are kept constant. By adjusting the position
of the clamp, I adjusted the system such that the vertical distance between the
2 pendula x = 2.0cm . I began the oscillatory system by releasing the longer pen
dulum by a degree of 10.0. After waiting for the pendulum system to achieve a ste
ady state i.e. 2 to 3 complete transfers of energy, I started the the stopwatch,
and stopped it immediately after one complete transfer of energy occurred.I then
repeated the above steps with different values for x for which 2.0 cm x 12.0 c
m and finally recorded the time taken for the oscillations for each respective v
alue of x onto a table.
Experimental Data

Length of Shorter Pendulum /cm ( )

Period of Energy Transfer /s ( )
16
56.25
18
34.91
20
23.14
22
13.86

24
8.41
26
7.63
28
4.97
30
3.52

Graph of Length of Pendulum against Period of Energy Transfer

Limitations to Experimental Procedures

One key experimental limitation was that regarding the actual up-and-down vibrat
ing of the horizontal rope connecting the 2 pendulums upon the release of the sh
orter pendulum. This would have undoubtedly affected the period of oscillation f
or both pendulums, as there would have been a slight and irregular vertical comp
onent to the direction of motion for the pendulum bob, therefore potentially cau
sing the readings for the period to be larger than theoretical values.

It was also difficult to ensure that the oscillations of the pendulum were confi
ned to one plane only, due to the inability to accurately tell whether the pendu
lum was only moving from left to right. This may also have caused the recordings
for the period of energy transfer to be longer than usual.

Citations
1. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 31 July 2016.
2. "Tuned Mass Dampers in Skyscrapers." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2016.