Activity Overview
In this activity, students will explore how a pendulum moves by placing a pendulum bob directly across from a CBR™ 2 motion sensor. Distance and time data are collected for several swings. The graph of the data can be modeled by a sinusoidal function.
About the Lesson
A pendulum moves so that the pendulum bob is directly across from a CBR™ 2 motion sensor. Distance and time data are collected for several swings. The graph of the data can be modeled by a sinusoidal function.
Students will:
• Collect and graph distance versus time data for several swings of a pendulum.
• Model the graph of the data with a sinusoidal function of the form f(x) = a(cos(b(x - c))) + d.