Question

(a) You wish to determine the height of the smokestack of a local coal burning power plant. You convince a member of the maintenance crew to mount the support for a simple pendulum at the top of the stack and you suspend a 1.00 kg mass that just misses the ground at its lowest point from the pendulum cord. If the period of the pendulum is 18.7 s, determine the height of the smokestack. 8455.69 Incorrect: Your answer is incorrect. What factors influence the period of a simple pendulum

Answer 1

Answer:

a. 86.80 m

b. i. The mass of the bob

ii. The length of the pendulum

Explanation:

a. Determine the height of the smokestack.

Using T = 2π√(L/g) where T = period of pendulum = 18.7 s, L = length of pendulum = height of smokestack and g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s².

So, making L subject of the formula, we have

T = 2π√(L/g)

T/2π = √(L/g)

squaring both sides, we have

(T/2π)² = L/g

L = (T/2π)²g

Substituting the values of the variables into the equation, we have

L = (T/2π)²g

L = (18.7 s/2π)²(9.8 m/s²)

L = (2.976 s)²(9.8 m/s²)

L = 8.857 s² × 9.8 m/s²

L = 86.796 m

L ≅ 86.80 m

b. What factors influence the period of a simple pendulum

The factors that influence the period of a simple pendulum are

i. The mass of the bob

ii. The length of the pendulum