Monday, June 27, 2011

PENDULUM WAVES

EVERYBODY KNOWS that the period of a pendulum is proportional to the (square root of the) length of the line suspending the weight. The longer the pendulum, the slower it swings (i.e. the longer the period).

So . . . some kid at Harvard built a device with a series of 15 pendulums in a row, each one slightly longer than its neighbor, set them in motion, and filmed the result . . . fascinating to watch, think about, and try to explain:






"Pendulum" is derived from the Latin "pendulus", of course, meaning "hanging". Pendulums were used as the most accurate form of time-keeping from the time of Galileo, who discovered their basic properties, until the 1930s.



Today's Bird HERE


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2 comments:

  1. That's pretty darn neat. Your eyes really fool you into seeing different things on that.

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  2. I love to see the pendulums moving because it relaxes me I do not know why but it does, I actually have a collection of pendulums in my house!

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