In the laboratory, a stick 1.0 m long is pivoted at various points to illustrate the motion of a physical pendulum. A plot of the period versus the distance of the pivot point from the center of mass is shown. The data presented demonstrates which of the following?
A) The motion of a pendulum is circular about the center of mass.
B) The center of mass is at 0.4 m.
C) The graph is meaningless in this form.
D) There is a minimum period in the neighborhood of 1.5 s at a pivotal distance of approximately 0.4 m from the center of mass.
E) The graph should be drawn as a straight line from A to C; point D is obviously wrong.

Question

In the laboratory, a stick 1.0 m long is pivoted at various points to illustrate the motion of a physical pendulum. A plot of the period versus the distance of the pivot point from the center of mass is shown. The data presented demonstrates which of the following?
A) The motion of a pendulum is circular about the center of mass. 
B) The center of mass is at 0.4 m. 
C) The graph is meaningless in this form. 
D) There is a minimum period in the neighborhood of 1.5 s at a pivotal distance of approximately 0.4 m from the center of mass. 
E) The graph should be drawn as a straight line from A to C; point D is obviously wrong.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The graph shows that the period of the physical pendulum varies with the distance of the pivot point from the center of mass. The minimum period occurs when the pivot point is approximately 0.4 m from the center of mass. This indicates that this distance is the ideal distance to achieve maximum stability for the pendulum.

In the Laboratory, a Stick 1