Answer
(a) The pendulum bob reaches its highest speed in a time of 0.246 seconds.
(b) The pendulum bob reaches its highest speed in a time of 0.246 seconds.
Work Step by Step
(a) We can find the period of the pendulum.
$T = 2\pi~\sqrt{\frac{L}{g}}$
$T = 2\pi~\sqrt{\frac{0.240~m}{9.80~m/s^2}}$
$T = 0.9833~s$
Since the pendulum bob reaches its highest speed at the bottom of the swing, the pendulum bob reaches its highest speed after completing one-fourth of a cycle. We can find the time to reach the highest speed.
$t = \frac{T}{4} = \frac{0.9833~s}{4} = 0.246~s$
The pendulum bob reaches its highest speed in a time of 0.246 seconds.
(b) Since the period does not depend on the angle, the pendulum bob reaches its highest speed in a time of 0.246 seconds.
