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How to Make a Gravity Meter

One way to measure gravity is to observe the oscillation of a pendulum, such as those that are found on a grandfather clock. You can make your own gravity meter by utilizing an adjustable pendulum. This is a device you can use to measure the oscillation of a weight tied to a string. To do this, you need to use a specific length of string that will hang from the pendulum.

Things You'll Need

Adjustable pendulum
1 1/2 meters of string
Meter stick
Lead fishing weight
Protractor
Stopwatch

Instructions

- 1
  Measure out 0.5 meters of string with the meter stick and tie it to the adjustable pendulum. Tie the lead fishing weight to the end of the string.
- 2
  Pull the lead weight and set it to an angle of 15 degrees using the protractor to determine the angle. Release the lead weight and start the stopwatch.
- 3
  Stop the stopwatch after the pendulum makes 10 complete oscillations back and forth. Make a note of the time on a piece of paper.
- 4
  Divide the time of the oscillations in Step 3 by 10. Make a note for each pendulum length and label this ̶0;G.̶1;
- 5
  Write out the equation that is used to calculate gravity. This is expressed as ̶0;T = 2 pi sq rt (L/G).̶1;
- 6
  Input the 0.5 meter value for ̶0;L̶1; in the equation. Input the value you calculated in Step 4 for ̶0;G.̶1;

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