Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
Accurate Clock Pendulums$
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.
Accurate Clock Pendulums

Robert J. Matthys

Print publication date: 2004

Print ISBN-13: 9780198529712

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2010

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198529712.001.0001

ContentsFRONT MATTER
Show Summary Details
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. date: 07 March 2021

Better accuracy from simple pendulums

Better accuracy from simple pendulums

Chapter:
(p.3) Chapter 1 Better accuracy from simple pendulums
Source:
Accurate Clock Pendulums
Author(s):

Robert James Matthys

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198529712.003.0001

This chapter deals with simple pendulums and with several things that can be done to improve their accuracy. Most of the items have only a minor effect on accuracy, but they add up. The pendulum should be enclosed in a case to protect it from the air currents of an open room, which will push the pendulum around and give erratic timing. A metal pendulum rod is recommended over a wooden one. If the pendulum is not temperature compensated, a low thermal expansion metal like iron must be chosen for the pendulum rod. If the pendulum is not temperature compensated, the bob must be supported at its bottom edge rather than at its middle or top edge. Other tips: use a low drag bob shape, walls dose to the pendulum cause a problem with relative humidity; slide the top end of the suspension spring up and down through a narrow slot; keep the number of piece parts and mechanical joints in a pendulum to a minimum.

Keywords:   simple pendulums, accuracy, air currents, relative humidity, mechanical joints, pendulum rod, bob, suspension spring

Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.

Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.

To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .