The following diagram shows a pendulum at different positions. Which one of the following statement is true?

The correct answer is The pendulum has minimum potential energy at position R.

Key Points

• Simple Pendulum:
  • A simple pendulum consists of a small metallic ball or a piece of stone suspended from a rigid stand by a thread.
  • The metallic ball is termed as bob.
  • A pendulum swings from one extreme position to another and comes back to the same position, this completes one oscillation.
  • The pendulum is said to be at maximum displacement when it is at an extreme position.
  • One oscillation can also be defined as the pendulum starting from the mean position, going to one extreme, and coming back to the same mean position.
  • The time period for an oscillation to compete is called the time period and the inverse of the time period is the frequency.
• So, Potential energy is maximum at maximum displacement position or extreme positions P and T.
• Kinetic energy is minimum at the equilibrium position. The equilibrium position is the mean position.
• The pendulum has minimum potential energy at position R.