Related papers: Simple Pendulum Revisited
The classic simple pendulum is a device which works as a simple harmonic oscillator (S.H.M.) only approximately. The time period remains fixed as long as the amplitude is kept sufficiently small. This limitation makes it unsatisfactory…
To measure oscillation of a simple pendulum was probably a first idea coming to mind after appearance of smartphones with small but powerful acceleration sensors~: Simply attach the telephone to a playground swing or hang it on two string…
A simple approximation formula is derived here for the dependence of the period of a simple pendulum on amplitude that only requires a pocket calculator and furnishes an error of less than 0.25% with respect to the exact period. It is shown…
The characteristics of drive-free oscillations of a damped simple pendulum under sinusoidal potential force field differ from those of the damped harmonic oscillations. The frequency of oscillation of a large amplitude simple pendulum…
One of the best ways to measure low-frequency eigenmode oscillations of the Earth is to monitor a simple pendulum responding to tilt. A theoretical basis for the method is given, by investigating a particular, well-known standing wave-the…
In this paper we present a study of the non-linear effects of anharmonicity of the potential of the simple pendulum. In a theoretical reminder we highlight that anharmonicity of the potential generates additional harmonics and the…
The oscillation periods bounded by a simple pendulum and an oscillating rigid rod are illustrated using a multiple pendulum. Oscillation periods between these two limits are obtained. A theoretical approach using the Lagrangian formalism…
With the right choice of sensor, a `simple' pendulum has great potential as a seismometer with superior low frequency sensitivity.
Lessons and homework problems involving a pendulum are often a big part of introductory physics classes and laboratory courses from high school to undergraduate levels. Although laboratory equipment for pendulum experiments is commercially…
Described is an experiment where the embedded accelerometer of a smart-phone was used to study the free decay of a `simple' pendulum to which the phone was attached.
The period of an undamped compound pendulum has been selected to maximize the instrument's response to microseisms, when functioning as a type of horizontal seismometer. When functioning as a tiltmeter, the instrument is also capable of…
The simple pendulum is one of the first experiments that students of higher physics do. There are certain precautions which the students are asked to take while performing the experiment. In this note we will try to explain as to why these…
An optical mouse that is in common use with personal computers is employed to measure the motion of a pendulum. The pendulum can be monitored (i) realtime only, or (ii) also with data storage for later detailed analysis using Excel. The…
We present an analysis of the motion of a simple torsion pendulum and we describe how, with straightforward extensions to the usual basic dynamical model, we succeed in explaining some unexpected features we found in our data, like the…
The humble pendulum is often invoked as the archetype of a simple, gravity driven, oscillator. Under ideal circumstances, the oscillation frequency of the pendulum is independent of its mass and swing amplitude. However, in most real-world…
This paper presents the validation of a computational tool that serves to obtain continuous measurements of moving objects. The software uses techniques of computer vision, pattern recognition and optical flow, to enable tracking of objects…
We describe a torsion pendulum with a large mass-quadrupole moment and a resonant frequency of 2.8 mHz, whose angle is measured using a modified Michelson interferometer. The system achieved noise levels of $\sim200\…
The small angle approximation often fails to explain experimental data, does not even predict if a plane pendulum's period increases or decreases with increasing amplitude. We make a perturbation ansatz for the Conserved Energy Surfaces of…
We study the minimum-time damping of a physical pendulum by means of a bounded control. In the similar problem for a linear oscillator each optimal trajectory possesses a finite number of control switchings from the maximal to the minimal…
The Wilberforce pendulum is a great experience for illustrating important properties of coupled oscillatory systems, such as normal modes and beat phenomena, in physics courses. A helical spring attached to a mass comprises this simple but…