Bowling Ball Pendulum

A bowling ball pendulum is a classic physics demonstration used to prove the Law of Conservation of Energy. By pulling a heavy ball to your face and releasing it from a dead stop, you can watch it swing away and return to the exact same starting point without ever hitting you.

• Conservation of Energy: The total mechanical energy in a closed system remains constant. At the peak of the swing, the ball's energy is entirely gravitational potential energy. At the lowest point, this is converted entirely into kinetic energy (motion)
• Friction and Air Resistance: In the real world, the ball will never return to the exact microscopic height it was released from. Friction at the pivot point and air resistance convert a tiny fraction of the energy into heat and sound
• Period of the Swing: The time it takes for the pendulum to complete one full back-and-forth cycle is determined by its length and gravity T=2*(pi)*√(L/g)