Elliptical oscillation of a pendulum

Elliptic oscillation of a pendulum 3D virtual laboratory work on physics (section: Mechanics).

INTENT: Simulation of the laboratory work on general physics.

OBJECTIVE: To describe elliptic vibrations of a suspended pendulum as a superposition of two components perpendicular to each other.

DESCRIPTION: Depending on the initial conditions, the corresponding suspended pendulum will oscillate in such a way that its weight will describe an ellipse at small deviations of the pendulum from the rest position. If this motion is decomposed into two perpendicular components, there will be a phase difference between these components. This experiment explores this relationship by measuring the oscillations using two perpendicularly mounted dynamic force transducers. The amplitudes of these components and their phase difference are then evaluated.