Why is a pendulum with a bob of the same size but larger mass than another bob damped more lightly?

The heavier bob has more kinetic energy/potential energy/momentum for any given amplitude of the two pendulums due to its larger mass, as each of these three quantities depend linearly on mass. The damping is due to air resistance and seeing as the bobs are the same size, we must consider the energy (potential/kinetic). The heavier bob will lose a smaller percentage of its energy per oscillation so it is therefore less heavily damped than the lighter bob.
We can also visualise this through inertia, where inertia is the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. Since greater mass = greater inertia, the heavier bob will have greater opposition to something, air resistance in this case, changing its state of motion.

LS

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

What is the difference between a vector and a scalar quantity?


a ball is dropped from rest off a cliff of height 50m, determine the final velocity of the ball assuming no air resistance.


Describe the energy changes in the 4 stages of a bungee jump - at the top, in freefall, when the cord is stretching and at the bottom


What is the photo-electric effect and what impact did it have on the development of Quantum Mechanics?