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A Simple Pendulum

    The three requirements for simple harmonic motion are:
    • a restoring force
    • the system has inertia
    • and the acceleration of the bob is directly proportional to its displacement and is always directed to an equilibrium position.
    The pendulum has inertial mass m, the restoring force is the component of the weight along the arc mg sinθ, and the acceleration is always directed to the lowest position. If the angle is less than 10° then acceleration:a = -gs/L = -(2πf)2s     so        f = (1/2π)√(g/L)

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Specification: OCR Physics A (H556), A-level, 5.3.2 Energy of a simple harmonic oscillator and 5.3.1 Simple harmonic oscillations. Topic: Simple Harmonic Motion.

Key terms in this lesson

electric field
A region of space in which a charged object experiences a force due to the presence of another charge.

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