Question

A visitor to a lighthouse wishes to determine the height of the tower. She ties a spool of thread to a small rock to make a simple pendulum, which she hangs down the center of a spiral staircase of the tower. The period of oscillation is 6.01 s. What is the height of the tower

Answer 1

Answer:

The height of the tower is 8.96 m.

Explanation:

We have, a visitor to a lighthouse wishes to determine the height of the tower. She ties a spool of thread to a small rock to make a simple pendulum, which she hangs down the center of a spiral staircase of the tower. The period of oscillation is 6.01 s.

It is required to find the height of the tower. Let it is l. The time period of a simple pendulum is given by :

$T=2\pi \sqrt{\dfrac{l}{g}}$

l is length of pendulum, or height of tower

$l=\dfrac{T^2g}{4\pi^2}\\\\l=\dfrac{(6.01)^2\times 9.8}{4\pi^2}\\\\l=8.96\ m$

So, the height of the tower is 8.96 m.