How Do Different Media Affect Pendulum Damping?

[Swetasuria]

I have to do an investogatory project in school and we can choose the topic of our choice. My teacher has suggested an experiment where we could study the damping effect of a pendulum in three different media-air, water and magnetic field.

This sounds pretty interesting (and pretty simple) to me, and I would like to try it out. But I don't know which equations to put into use. I suppose one thing I could do is find the time the pendulum takes to stop oscillating in the three different media but that is all that's clicking me right now.

Please help me out and give me some ideas.

Thanks.

 

[Emilyjoint]

To be a fair test I think you have to use the same pendulum each time. So you need a pendulum made of something that will give magnetic damping.
The best thing I have seen along these lines was a aluminium pendulum that slowed down in a magnet because of eddy currents...just a starting suggestion.
ciao

 

[voko]

Some equations and analysis can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_oscillator#Damped_harmonic_oscillator