Conservation of mechanical energy means that the total mechanical energy doesn't increase or decrease over time.Note that in real systems, some mechanical will always be lost due to friction.
Gravity acts on the pendulum.
A pendulum is affected by the force of gravity.
There is Mechanical Energy. This Mechanical Energy equals Potential + Kinetic Energies. At the maximum heigh and with the pendulum set still there is the maximum Potential Energy (so Kinetic equals 0, and Potential Energy equals Mechanical Energy). When we release the pendulum this Potential Energy transforms into Kinetic Energy which will be maximum and equal to the Mechanical Energy when the 'rope' or 'string' that holds the pendulum is in the same direction as the acceleration, or force, in this case gravity. Then, and if there is no friction (e.g. air) the pendulum will reach the same maximum heigh that it had in X0 and the Kinetic Energy will transform into Potential, reinitiating the process but in the opposite direction. Hope i helped and sorry for my english. :)
This is a conservation of energy problem. When the pendulum starts out, it has gravitational potential energy; at the bottom of the swing, all of that has been converted to kinetic energy, and when it swings back up, back to gravitational potential energy (which is why speed is greatest at the bottom of the pendulum); in other words, there has to be the same amount of energy (PEgravitational = mass*gravity*height), where mass and gravity are constant.
There IS gravity in a vacuum - there's no AIR.
An example of a mechanical system is a simple pendulum. The pendulum consists of a mass (bob) attached to a fixed point by a rod or string. When the pendulum is displaced from its resting position, gravity and inertia create a harmonic motion back and forth.
Gravity acts on the pendulum.
A pendulum is affected by the force of gravity.
There is Mechanical Energy. This Mechanical Energy equals Potential + Kinetic Energies. At the maximum heigh and with the pendulum set still there is the maximum Potential Energy (so Kinetic equals 0, and Potential Energy equals Mechanical Energy). When we release the pendulum this Potential Energy transforms into Kinetic Energy which will be maximum and equal to the Mechanical Energy when the 'rope' or 'string' that holds the pendulum is in the same direction as the acceleration, or force, in this case gravity. Then, and if there is no friction (e.g. air) the pendulum will reach the same maximum heigh that it had in X0 and the Kinetic Energy will transform into Potential, reinitiating the process but in the opposite direction. Hope i helped and sorry for my english. :)
Gravity doesn't make a pendulum stop. Air resistance and friction in the pivot are the things that rob its energy. If you could eliminate those and leave it all up to gravity, the pendulum would never stop.
This is a conservation of energy problem. When the pendulum starts out, it has gravitational potential energy; at the bottom of the swing, all of that has been converted to kinetic energy, and when it swings back up, back to gravitational potential energy (which is why speed is greatest at the bottom of the pendulum); in other words, there has to be the same amount of energy (PEgravitational = mass*gravity*height), where mass and gravity are constant.
The simple pendulum can be used to determine the acceleration due to gravity.
There IS gravity in a vacuum - there's no AIR.
They determine the length of time of the pendulum's swing ... its 'period'.
The period of a pendulum (in seconds) is 2(pi)√(L/g), where L is the length and g is the acceleration due to gravity. As acceleration due to gravity increases, the period decreases, so the smaller the acceleration due to gravity, the longer the period of the pendulum.
Yes. Given a constant for gravity, the period of the pendulum is a function of it's length to the center of mass. In a higher gravity, the period would be shorter for the same length of pendulum.
The period of a simple pendulum swinging at a small angle is approximately 2*pi*Sqrt(L/g), where L is the length of the pendulum, and g is acceleration due to gravity. Since gravity on the moon is approximately 1/6 of Earth's gravity, the period of a pendulum on the moon with the same length will be approximately 2.45 times of the same pendulum on the Earth (that's square root of 6).