Article
Article
Pendulum
Article By:
Keller, Joseph M. Department of Physics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Last reviewed:June 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.495800
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- Pendulum, published August 2019:Download PDF
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A rigid body mounted on a fixed horizontal axis, about which it is free to rotate under the influence of gravity. The actual form of a pendulum often consists of a long, light bar or a cord that serves as a support for a small, massive bob or weight. The period—meaning one complete cycle of a left and a right swing—of the motion of a pendulum is virtually independent of its amplitude and depends primarily on the geometry of the pendulum and on the local value of g, the acceleration of gravity. Pendulums have therefore been used as the control elements in clocks and served as a standard for timekeeping for about 270 years after the invention of the pendulum clock (Fig. 1) by Dutch physicist and astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1657. Pendulums have also been widely used as scientific instruments to measure g. See also: Classical mechanics; Clock (mechanical); Dynamics; Gravity
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