Simple Harmonic Motion

📋 Teacher notes

• •Period T = 2π√(L/g) is INDEPENDENT of mass and amplitude (for small angles < 15°).
• •This independence of mass is why a pendulum makes a good clock — it keeps time regardless of the bob.
• •For large amplitudes, the period increases — the small-angle approximation (sinθ ≈ θ) breaks down.
• •On the Moon (g=1.6 m/s²), the same pendulum runs ~2.5× slower. The gravity slider demonstrates this.
• •A seconds pendulum (T=2s) has length L = g/π² ≈ 0.993m — almost exactly 1 metre.