Sunday, July 24, 2016

newtonian mechanics - What are the properties of an 'ideal' pendulum?


This question mentions a phrase ideal pendulum.



What are the properties of an ideal pendulum(if there is any such term)?


Internet search tells me that there are two types of pendulum:Simple and compound.



Answer



An ideal pendulum, as in the question you refer to, is one without friction, air resistance, a point-mass bob - i.e. the bob is not a real massive object but just a point, etc. It's defined that way to make the maths simpler. Real, actual pendulums only behave in approximately the same way.


The ideal pendulum can, however, have any length or bob-weight, so it does not have any special proportions.


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