Find the tangential acceleration of a freely swinging pendulum when it makes an angle θ with the vertical. (Use theta for θ and g as necessary.)

Question

i tried 2.56 as an answer and it was wrong, so im guessing im suppose to use symbols?

Answer 1

Draw the force vectors: mg downward. If the pendulum is at angle theta, then the component of mg in the direction of movement is mg*CosTheta

F=ma
mgCosTheta= ma
solve for a