Does the damping term cause the oscillations to decay in an exponential envelope?
Through this experiment, we found that it is truly an exponential envelope. Click here to see a plot of amplitude vs. time that shows the effect of damping in the experimental system. V: How good are your assumptions? Due to the assumptions, there is a slight margin of error. The Experimental ωo and the Calculated ωo differ slightly. The assumption that made the greatest imapact in the observed error was that we did not account for the damping factor. The equation that was used to determine the calculated period: ωo = 2π/T, where T = 4√(l/g) * ∫ dφ/(√(1-k2sin2φ) does not account for the presence of damping. As seen here (same graph as Part IV) the experiment was obviously not set in an environment free from damping. The results also indicate that damping was a larger factor for smaller initial angles than larger ones. This conclusion can be reached by noting the difference between the calculated ωo and the ωo found experimentally as θ increases. The difference in the 1° case is .63 whi
