Question

1. Would the period of a particular pendulum be the same on the moon as on Earth? Explain.

2. What effect does the mass of the ball have on the period of a simple pendulum? What would be the effect of replacing the steel ball with a wooden ball, a lead ball, and a ping pong ball of the same size?

3.Would you conclude that Galileo was correct in his observation that the period of a simple pendulum depends only on the length of the pendulum?

Answer 1

We know that the time period of the simple pendulum is T = 2pi sqrt(L/g)

where L is the length of the pendulum and g is acceleration due to gravity in that location

we know that the acceleration due to gravity on moon is less than (1/6 th ) on Earth so the period of the pendulum does not same on moon.

If we observe the formula for time period there is no term of mass , so what ever the ball it is made up of it only depends on lenght of the pendulum and acceleration due to gravity , not any other parameters

Yes , Galileo was correct