Reversible pendulum (physical pendulum)

Principle

In the "Simple pendulum" experiment (Mechanics 5.2) the students became acquainted with the correlations between pendulum length and oscillation period of a thread pendulum. In the present experiment they should discover the special property of a reversion pendulum: there are two singular suspension points, at which the oscillation period is the same. The distance between them - the reduced pendulum length l_R - is larger than the distance "center of gravity - suspension point"; consequently, the pendulum must be reversed in order to hang it on the respective singular points*.
In this experiment the students should measure the oscillation period of a reversion pendulum, the suspension points for equal oscillation periods and from this data determine the reduced pendulum length.
Additionally, they should measure the oscillation period of a thread pendulum with a length which corresponds to the reversion pendulum's reduced pendulum length and compare it with the reversion pendulum's oscillation period.

Benefits