A basic pendulum is a mass at the end of a string that swings back and forth. It seems simple, and it appears in most introductory physics textbooks. But it's not a trivial problem to solve for the ...

This is a requested post. Clearly, I do requests. The idea here is that I am going to give all the details needed to determine the equation of motion (and then model it) for a basic pendulum. Warning: ...

The Foucault Pendulum illustrates the rotation of the earth. It is not constrained to stay in a fixed plane like a clock pendulum, but instead its ordinary pendulum motion is free to change direction ...

Nudge something away from where it was at rest, and often it will push back. And then overshoot. From atoms to bridges to wheeled luggage, much of the world is in simple harmonic motion Yesterday my ...

In 1851, the French physicist Léon Foucault provided an experimental proof of the Earth’s rotation using a pendulum. Although Foucault is best known for this ingenious experiment, he also made several ...