Major

Physics

Access Type

Open Access

Abstract

The looping pendulum is a simple physical system consisting of two masses connected by a string that passes over a rod. We derive equations of motion for the looping pendulum using Newtonian mechanics, and show that these equations can be solved numerically to give a good description of the system’s dynamics. The numerical solution captures complex aspects of the looping pendulum’s behavior, and is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Faculty Mentors & Instructors

Dr. Constantin Rasinariu; Dr. Robert McNees

Comments

This is a paper reporting research by Luke Ignell, Collin Dannheim, and Brendan O'Donnell, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Robert McNees and Dr. Constantin Rasinariu. It has been submitted here on behalf of the students by Dr. McNees.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Looping Pendulum: Theory, Simulation, and Experiment

The looping pendulum is a simple physical system consisting of two masses connected by a string that passes over a rod. We derive equations of motion for the looping pendulum using Newtonian mechanics, and show that these equations can be solved numerically to give a good description of the system’s dynamics. The numerical solution captures complex aspects of the looping pendulum’s behavior, and is in good agreement with the experimental results.