Why Doesn't the Drop Height Affect the Pendulum's Period?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the period of a physical pendulum with a string length of 1 meter, calculated using the formula T=2π√((2L)/(3g)), resulting in a period of 1.64 seconds. However, the user observed that increasing the drop height led to longer oscillation times, which is attributed to the limitations of the formula used. This formula is accurate only for small amplitude oscillations and becomes increasingly inaccurate as amplitude increases, confirming the user's experimental findings.

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student34
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Homework Statement



What's the period to a 1 meter long physical pendulum string where L = 1M
T=2∏√((2L)/(3g)) = 1.64s

But, I did my own experiment, and the higher I dropped the pendulum the longer it took for it to travel 1 oscillation. What is going on here?



Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution

 
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Hi student34. The formula that you are using is only an approximate formula. It's pretty accurate for small amplitude oscillations (the smaller the better), but becomes more and more inaccurate as the amplitude is increased. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum
 


TSny said:
Hi student34. The formula that you are using is only an approximate formula. It's pretty accurate for small amplitude oscillations (the smaller the better), but becomes more and more inaccurate as the amplitude is increased. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum

Thank you so much. I thought I was going crazy!
 

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