The bob of a simple pendulum of length 1 m has mass loo g and a speed of 1.4 m/s at the lowest point in its path. Find the tension in the string at this instant.


This is clearly not the extreme points. A simple pendulum always constitutes some velocity at the lowest point. This proves that there exists a non-zero central force in the system. This central force will contribute to increase tension.


Hence, the forces acting on the bob are centrifugal force, gravitational force in the downward direction and tension in the upward direction.


At the lowest point the forces are related as,







1