Introduction

Pendulums have many applications and were utilized often before the digital age.
They are used in clocks and metronomes due to the regularity of their period, in wrecking
balls and playground swings, due to their simple way of building up and keeping energy.
They are even found in various scientific instruments, from seismographs to early torpedo
guidance systems, due to their sensitivity to disturbance. A predecessor to the seismograph
was based on an inverted pendulum, Chang Hengs Dragon Jar invented at around 123 A.D.
Problem Statement
All models are full of assumptions. Some of these assumptions are very accurate, such
as the pendulum is unaffected by the day of the week. Some of these assumptions are less
accurate but we are still going to make them, friction does not effect the system. Here is a list
of some of the more notable assumptions of this model of a pendulum. Friction from both air
resistance and the system is negligible. The pendulum swings in a perfect plane. The arm of
the pendulum cannot bend or stretch/compress. The arm is massless. Gravity is a constant 9.8
meter/second2 .

Variables
m = mass at the swinging end of the pendulum (kilograms)
g = acceleration due to gravity (meter/second2)
L = length from the swivel point to the center of mass (meters)
= angle between the string position to the string position at rest (radians)
t = time (seconds)
T = period of the pendulum (time for one complete cycle) (seconds)

Fila Table
Facts

(From Ideas

given trigger)
Arc length of Angle between
pendulum
the string
position to the
string at rest
affect the arc
length of
pendulum
Acceleration
Angle between
of
the the
string
pendulum
position to the
string at rest and
gravity
acceleration
affect
acceleration of
pendulum.

Simple
harmonic
equation

Learning issues

Action

Solution

How the angle Analyse

the The bigger the
effect the arc velocity using the angle, the bigger
length?
formula
the arc length.
arc L= L
How the angle
and gravity
acceleration
effect the
acceleration of
the pendulum

Find information The bigger the

through
books angle, the bigger
and website
the acceleration
of pendulum.
a = -g sin

Derivation of arc
d2
length
of
a = L dt2
pendulum
into
new formula of
acceleration.
Substitution of How in getting
Do
the
the two formulas simple harmonic substitution of
of acceleration
equation?
a = -g sin

d2
2
dt

and
2

d
a = L dt2
Period of the Reduce
the How to get
pendulum
second
order period of period
differential
of pendulum?
equation to a first
order from the
simple harmonic
equation
and
proceed on some
more steps like
substitution and
derivation.

g
L

sin =0

Analyse
the
equations
into
getting
period T = 4
question
1
2
0

L
g

cos cos
0

Solution:
We will now derive the simple harmonic motion equation of a pendulum from Newton's
second Law.
F = ma
Acceleration due to gravity will be a function of . At =
=0

a = 0, considering the relation of acceleration and

|a| = g and

we arrive at

a = - g sin
(1)
arc length (arc L) of the pendulum can be thought of as the position" of the system
arcL = L
acceleration of the system will now be

d2
a = L dt 2
plug in equation (1) to get the simple harmonic motion of a pendulum shown in equation (2)
d2
2
dt

g
L

sin = 0

(2)
Now we will solve equation (2) to get T (period) reduce the second order differential equation
to a first order
d
dt

d2
dt 2

d
dt

g
L

[( )

1 d 2 g
cos
2 dt
L

d
dt

sin = 0

0
integrate to get the differential equation
d 2 g
cos = C
dt
L

( )

with the initial conditions of ' (0) = 0 and (0) =

C=-

2g
cos
L

we can solve for C

put our C into the equation

d
dt

( )

2g
L

(cos cos

Now take the square root of both sides while ignoring the negative because we are solving for
time and either time will be the same distance from our t0. It is just a matter of forwards or
backwards in time. On the left hand of our equation lies the rate of change of the angle with
respect to time, but we are going to solve for the period, so we need the time with respect to

the angle, because of this we are going to inverse the entire equation and integrate from 0 to

. We will now multiply the whole thing by four to get the period. The change in time to

get from 0 to

is only one forth of the entire cycle of the pendulum. This gives us our

new equation of

T=4

1
2

L
g

cos cos
0

(3)
Now if L, 15cm, with the , 20 5 . (g = 9.81m/s2)

T=4

0.15
9.81

1
2

1
cos 0.436

= 0.35 seconds

Conclusion
Pendulums are not too difficult to predict if a person only needs a few significant
figures, or is willing to stay at fairly small angles. So next time a person is stuck on a desert
island and needs a way to measure short amounts of time or keep perfect rhythm for their
island song. A pendulum is easy to make and with a little bit of math, easy to understand, one
could even use the swaying of their hammock, assuming a fairly uniform driving force. If
tropical paradise is too old fashioned, and ones dreams are far bigger than this small planet
can offer, then gravity could become the variable instead of length. One could become the
MacGyver of space travel and use a pendulum to calculate the gravity (and mass) of a newly
discovered world.