This interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab shows how a pendulum's amplitude changes as you set it swinging from different distances from its axis, and how the amplitude of a sound wave changes as you adjust the volume.

A quick biography of Galileo Galilei.

The EJS Circumnavigating Pendulum model displays the dynamics of a mechanical oscillator in uniform circular motion. The mechanical oscillator is free to move in two directions. This 2-dimensional simulation displays all the dynamical features of the Foucault pendulum, except for the dependency of the Foucault pendulum precession on latitude. The simulation shows simultaneously the motion with respect to the inertial coordinate system, and the motion as seen from a co-rotating point of view.

This document describes the specifics users will experience when controlling an ECP plant with LabVIEW with front panel and block diagram screen shots. Much thought has been put in to creating a set of example VIs that will work for each plant in their s

In this video segment, members of the ZOOM cast experiment with a pendulum and discover what they need to do to make the pendulum complete one back-and-forth swing in five seconds.

This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.

A brief history of Galileo and the pendulum.

In this lesson, students are introduced to both potential energy and kinetic energy as forms of mechanical energy. A hands-on activity demonstrates how potential energy can change into kinetic energy by swinging a pendulum, illustrating the concept of conservation of energy. Students calculate the potential energy of the pendulum and predict how fast it will travel knowing that the potential energy will convert into kinetic energy. They verify their predictions by measuring the speed of the pendulum.

Worksheet with instructions on how to make a pendulum and exploring its properties. Also provides opportunities for the recording of predictions and measurements.

This Java archive contains a collection of simple Easy Java Simulations (EJS) programs for the teaching of computer-based modeling. The materials and text of this resource appeared in an article of the same name in The Physics Teacher [Phys. Teach. 76, No. 45, pp. 474-480 (2007)].

Play with one or two pendulums and discover how the period of a simple pendulum depends on the length of the string, the mass of the pendulum bob, and the amplitude of the swing. It's easy to measure the period using the photogate timer. You can vary friction and the strength of gravity. Use the pendulum to find the value of g on planet X. Notice the anharmonic behavior at large amplitude.

The EJS Pendulum on an Accelerating Train model displays the model of a pendulum on an accelerating train. The problem assumes that the pendulum rod is rigid and massless and of length, L = 2, and the pendulum bob is of mass, m = 1. The initial pendulum angle and the initial velocity of the train can be changed via textboxes, and the acceleration of the train can be changed via a slider.

During this project, students will be asked to design a device that will measure out a time period of exactly 3 minutes. They will be asked to brainstorm ideas using the different materials provided. Students will observe and explain the effects of conservation of energy.

Students learn what a pendulum is and how it works in the context of amusement park rides. While exploring the physics of pendulums, they are also introduced to Newton's first law of motion about continuous motion and inertia.

The EJS Spring Pendulum model displays the model of a hollow mass that moves along a rigid rod that is also connected to a spring. The mass, therefore, undergoes a combination of spring and pendulum oscillations. The initial position and velocities, as well as the spring constant can be changed via textboxes.

This course teaches the art of guessing results and solving problems without doing a proof or an exact calculation. Techniques include extreme-cases reasoning, dimensional analysis, successive approximation, discretization, generalization, and pictorial analysis. Applications include mental calculation, solid geometry, musical intervals, logarithms, integration, infinite series, solitaire, and differential equations. (No epsilons or deltas are harmed by taking this course.) This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

Students examine the motion of pendulums and come to understand that the longer the string of the pendulum, the fewer the number of swings in a given time interval. They see that changing the weight on the pendulum does not have an effect on the period. They also observe that changing the angle of release of the pendulum has negligible effect upon the period.

This activity demonstrates how potential energy (PE) can be converted to kinetic energy (KE) and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by understanding conservation of energy and using the equations for PE and KE. The equations are justified as students experimentally measure the speed of the pendulum and compare theory with reality.

This activity shows students the engineering importance of understanding the laws of mechanical energy. More specifically, it demonstrates how potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by using the equations for potential and kinetic energy. The equations will be justified as students experimentally measure the speed of the pendulum and compare theory with reality.