Assignment:
For Lab 10, we will be measuring the period as a meter stick swings back and forth as it is hanging from a rod/pivot that is passing through a small hole.
1) What equipment will you use to measure the period of swing of this pendulum? How will you set it up?
According to the lab manual T=2π√(I/mgh) where I is the moment of inertia about the pivot, and h is the distance between the pivot and the center of mass of the system. For this prelab assume the meter stick has a mass of 75g and the pivot is placed on the 25 cm mark of the meter stick.
2) Explicitly calculate the moment of inertia of the stick about this pivot point. Explicitly discuss why you need to use the parallel axis theorem for this problem (or how you avoided using this theorem).
3) Calculate the expected period for this pendulum.