FURTHER MATHEMATICAL

EXPLANATION FOR
SIMPLE PENDULUM
Mikhail Narva 354101
Is the motion of the pendulum simple harmonic?

Visualization
Lets first take a simple pendulum where a mass is
attached to a string of length L

L
L

The pendulum is pulled to the right up to an angle

which then forms an arc of length s

s
There are two forces which act upon the mass:
Tension (T)
Weight (mg)
Assume air resistance or anything which
interferes with the mass during oscillations is
negligible

Notation Conventions
When the mass is away from the
equilibrium position (where the mass
is just hanging there) s = 0 and =
0

When it is away from the

equilibrium position, it will form an
arc of s length
When the mass is to the right of the
equilibrium position +ve angular
displacement value
When the mass is to the left of the
equilibrium position -ve angular
displacement value

Identifying the Resultant

Vector

Because were not dealing with uniform

circular motion the resultant force
vector is NOT just in the same direction
as the tension (T) vector
Lets identify this resultant vector!

To be able to get this, lets get the x-components of the

force vectors and get their resultant to get the magnit
of the resultant vectors x-component
Resultant vector is tangential to the circular arc at
the position of the mass

Identifying the x-components of the force

vectors

Note how the T vector is perpendicular to the resultant ve

x-component of T is therefore zero!

How do we get the x-component of the weight

Trigonometry!
vector?

x-Component of the weight

vector

Lets first draw an imaginary extension to the string len

Note how the weight vector and the string at the equilib
position are parallel

Parallel!

Going back to elementary school trigonometry, we

Therefore know that the 2 angles formed are equal!

x-Component of the weight

vector

Lets draw perpendiculars which intersect at th

weight vector and connect the extension line a
the resultant vector

Trigonometry rules state that the angles are also equal!

Lets now deal with

numbers

is the magnitude of the xcomponent of the resultant

force
Remember how the x-component of
the tension (T) vector is zero therefore
x-component of resultant vector
= x-component of weight vector

= ?

for small oscillations,

by small, we mean 12

Lets look at the definition of to better understand why this is the

case


Understanding

Lets take our initial drawing and break down that theta mathema

The
displacement, s, along the arc of the circle is
related to the angular displacement!
Given by:

on the

other hand is opposite divided by the hypotenuse

When is small, o s

Lets take
s at different values for and compare it to o.
To do this, we will stretch the arc with the length s until it is fl
and not curved as shown in the diagram
From left

to right, the value for becomes smaller

with o being the top lines and s being the bottom lines
O
s

As we decrease , the difference between o and s become less

significant making s

What now?

Now
we can say that:

Remember that this is the magnitude!

Now we have to turn this scalar quantity
into a vector quantity

Remember how the vector is facing the

left?
Therefore

it has a negative value!

Because of Newtons Second Law!

Cancel out the m

And remember how

Conclusion

We can now rewrite this as:

And because we can write it like this, by

definition, this is a SIMPLE HARMONIC
MOTION!

For review why this is so, read p.160

Chapter 13-2