Question

The acceleration due to gravity on Mars is only 3.75 m/s^2. You would like to modify an antique grandfather clock so that it would still keep accurate time on Mars. If the length of the pendulum on Earth is l, what should the length of the pendulum be on Mars so that the pendulum oscillates with the same frequency that it does on Earth. [Use g=10 m/s^2 ]

Answer 1

To keep the same oscillation frequency on Mars as on Earth, we need to keep the period of oscillation constant.

The period of a simple pendulum is given by the formula:

T = 2π√(l/g)

where T is the period, l is the length of the pendulum, and g is the acceleration due to gravity.

On Earth, the period is based on an acceleration due to gravity of 10 m/s^2. So, if we want to find the length of the pendulum on Mars (l_mars) that gives us the same period as on Earth, we use the equation:

T_earth = 2π√(l/g_earth)

T_mars = 2π√(l_mars/g_mars)

Since we want T_earth = T_mars, we can set these two equations equal to each other:

2π√(l/g_earth) = 2π√(l_mars/g_mars)

Simplifying the equation, we get:

√(l/g_earth) = √(l_mars/g_mars)

Squaring both sides of the equation, we get:

l/(g_earth) = l_mars/(g_mars)

Rearranging the equation, we find:

l_mars = l × (g_mars/g_earth)

Substituting in the given values, we find:

l_mars = l × (3.75 m/s^2 / 10 m/s^2)

Simplifying the equation, we find:

l_mars = 0.375l

So, the length of the pendulum on Mars should be 0.375 times the length of the pendulum on Earth.