<P> From the first scientific investigations of the pendulum around 1602 by Galileo Galilei, the regular motion of pendulums was used for timekeeping, and was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s . The pendulum clock invented by Christian Huygens in 1658 became the world's standard timekeeper, used in homes and offices for 270 years, and achieved accuracy of about one second per year before it was superseded as a time standard by the quartz clock in the 1930s . Pendulums are also used in scientific instruments such as accelerometers and seismometers . Historically they were used as gravimeters to measure the acceleration of gravity in geophysical surveys, and even as a standard of length . The word "pendulum" is new Latin, from the Latin pendulus, meaning' hanging' . </P> <P> The simple gravity pendulum is an idealized mathematical model of a pendulum . This is a weight (or bob) on the end of a massless cord suspended from a pivot, without friction . When given an initial push, it will swing back and forth at a constant amplitude . Real pendulums are subject to friction and air drag, so the amplitude of their swings declines . </P> <P> The period of swing of a simple gravity pendulum depends on its length, the local strength of gravity, and to a small extent on the maximum angle that the pendulum swings away from vertical, θ, called the amplitude . It is independent of the mass of the bob . If the amplitude is limited to small swings, the period T of a simple pendulum, the time taken for a complete cycle, is: </P> <Dl> <Dd> T ≈ 2 π L g θ 0 ≪ 1 r a d i a n (1) (\ displaystyle T \ approx 2 \ pi (\ sqrt (\ frac (L) (g))) \ qquad \ qquad \ qquad \ theta _ (0) \ ll 1 ~ \ mathrm (radian) \ qquad (1) \,) </Dd> </Dl>

What factors influence the period of a pendulum
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