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No, weight does not factor into a pendulum swing (in a vacuum)

Note that gravity effects all objects the same, drop a 10 pound weight and a 1 pound weight from the same distance and they will hit the ground at the same time.

As long as friction from the air does not play a roll for example as with a feather vs a Bowling ball, (which will actually hit the ground at the same time if they are in a vacuum) the weight of the bob should not matter.

However, because there are very slight variations in gravity with different elevations pendulums of the same weight will swing at different time intervals if one is on top of a mountain and one is at sea level.

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Q: Does the weight of the bob effect the swinging of a pendulum?
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What variable might affect the number of cycles the pendulum makes in fifteen seconds?

The period of the pendulum can be influenced by the local magnitude of gravity, by the length of the string, and by the density of the material in the swinging rod (which influences the effective length).It's not affected by the weight of the bob, or by how far you pull it to the side before you let it go.


How is the the time period of a pendulum affected when the bob of the simple pendulum is filled with mercury?

Answer #1:Your question cannot be answered without knowing what the pendulum wasfilled with before it was filled with mercury.If it had nothing in it, before, then adding the mercury would increase theperiod time.If it had lead in it before, then adding the mercury would decrease the periodtime.================================Answer #2:The period of a simple pendulum doesn't depend on the weight (mass) of thebob. As long as the bob is much heavier than the string, and air resistance canbe ignored, nothing you do to the bob has any effect on the period.


How do you make a pendulum clock is it the weight or the length of the string?

It is the length of the pendulum that matters (for small angles of swing): period ~= 2{pi}sqrt(length/g) Note that the "length" specified above is the length between the pivot and the centre of the mass of the pendulum, which is usually somewhere near the centre of the bob due to lightweight string and heavy bob on the end. Pennies (1d coins) are used to adjust the period of the clock in St Stephen's tower of the UK's Parliament building (of which the hour bell is Big Ben) not by adjusting the weight of the bob, but by adjusting the centre of the mass of the bob by stacking the coins towards the pivot.


How does a pendulum bob filled with sand and a hole at bottom affect the time period?

At the extremities of the pendulum's swing, the sand leaving the bob could exert a force on the bob. Provided that this force is negligible and also, provided the mass of the bob (with or without the sand) is large compared with the rest of the pendulum, the time period should not be affected.


How does the bob affects the period of a pendulum?

The period of a pendulum is totally un-affected by the mass of the bob.The time period of pendulum is given by the eqn.T=2*PIE*(l/g)1/2 ;l is the length of pendulum;g is the acceleration due to gravity.'l' is the length from the centre of suspension to the centre of gravity the bob.ie.the length of the pendulum depends on the centre of gravity of the bob,and hence the distribution of mass of the bob.

Related questions

What is the swinging mass called at the bottom of pendulum?

Any terminal object such as the weight on a pendulum is known as a Bob. It can also be called a Mass


What is a pendulum bob?

The bob is the weight on the end of the pendulum.


What effect does decreasing the weight of the bob have on the period of the pendulum?

The weight of the bob will determine how long the pendulum swings before coming to rest in the absence of applied forces. The period, or time of 1 oscillation, is determined only by the length of the pendulum.


What property of a pendulum does not affect its period?

The weight of the 'bob' doesn't, as long as the distance fromthe pivot to the swinging center of mass doesn't change.


The weight on a pendulum is called?

The weight on a pendulum is a 'mass' or a 'bob'.


Rosa's family has a grandfather clock with a pendulum The clock is not keeping time correctly because the pendulum is swinging too quickly What could Rosa do to slow down the pendulum swing?

To slow down a swinging clock pendulum, one must make it longer. In mechanical clocks, the majority of the mass of the pendulum is contained in the "bob" (a disk or weight) usually at the bottom of the pendulum. If you lower the pendulum bob, the pendulum is lengthened and the pendulum runs slower. This is usually done by turning a nut on a threaded portion of the pendulum just below the bob. Make sure the bob drops as you lower the nut or nothing will change. To raise the rate of the pendulum (make it run faster), you just turn the nut the opposite way.


What is the bob of a pendulum?

The bob is the weight at the end of the pendulum. For example, in a grandfather clock the ball at the end of the stick is the bob.


Why does the bob of a swinging pendulum comes to rest after sometime?

Because of energy loss via friction.


Does the period of a pendulum increases if you increase the weight?

In an 'ideal' pendulum ... on paper ... the string that holds the 'bob' has no weight of its own, and ALL of the weight is in the bob. If that's true, then the formulaa for the period doesn't involve the weight of the bob, and it has no effect.In a 'real' pendulum, the string always has some weight of its own. In that case, technically, a heavier bob would move the 'average' center of mass lower, and would technically increase the period of the swing. But unles you're using a piece of steel anchor-cable for a string, the weight of the bob has no noticeable effect on the period.


What does a pendulum bob look like?

A bob is the weight on the end of a pendulum. It can take any shape, but is most often depicted as being round.


What is the name of the weight on the end of pendulum?

The normal term is "bob."


What changes to the bob of a simple pendulum can be made without affecting the time period?

Its mass (weight) can be made anything you want. As long as the bob weighs significantly more than the string that suspends it, and as long as air resistance can be ignored, nothing you do to the bob has any effect on the period of the pendulum's oscillation.