The Pendulum Goals and Introduction In this experiment, we will examine the relationships between the period, frequency and length of a simple pendulum. The oscillation of a pendulum swinging back and forth is a familiar example of periodic, or harmonic, motion. If you imagine a child swinging back and forth on a swing, the child will repeatedly follow the same path, back and forth. As we describe the behavior and analysis of the pendulum, we will refer to this child-swing system to help us anchor our understanding. In broad terms, a pendulum consists of an object (or \"bob), hanging from a pivot point, that is free to swing about the pivot point. To aid us in our analysis here, we will make a simplifying assumption for our pendulum that all of the mass of our pendulum is concentrated at a point, which is tethered to the pivot point by a rope/cord/wire of negligible mass. When this assumption is made, the pendulum is referred to as a simple pendulum. Consider the child on the swing, again. If lightweight nylon ropes are used to attach the swing to the pivot point, this assumption isn't too far from reality when the child sits on the swing! The equilibrium position for the pendulum is when the cord is vertical, or when the bob is directly below the pivot point. When a child sits motionless on a swing, the child and swing are in equilibrium, as they will continue to remain motionless until the child is pushed or pulled to one side. Once displaced from the equilibrium position, the child will swing back and forth in simple harmonic motion, as long as the angular displacement is small (