How do you calculate acceleration of gravity?

1 Answer
Meave60
Dec 16, 2014

You can use a pendulum to calculate the acceleration due to gravity, #"g"#. The equations to use are the following:

http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/natural_behavioral_sciences/Web%20Physics/Experiment%2004web.htm

#"T"# is period in seconds, #"L"# is length of pendulum in meters, and #"g"# is the acceleration due to gravity in #"m/s"^2#.

Example:

A pendulum with a length of #"1.15 m"# has a period of #"2.151 s"#.

#"g"# = #"4pi"^2"L/T"^2# = #"(4)(3.1415)"^2"(1.15 m)/(2.151 s)"^2# = #"9.81 m/s"^2#

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