TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging Pendulum
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...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging Pendulum
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,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Kinetic and Potential Energy of Motion
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...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging on a String
Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release. In an associated literacy activity, students explore...
New Advent
Catholic Encyclopedia: Jean Bertrand Leon Foucault
A lengthy biographical sketch from The New Advent of Jean-Bertand-Leon Foucault (1819-1868 CE) physicist and mechanician. Discusses his upbringing, scientific work, major accomplishments and published articles. Please note that "The...
University of Maryland
Thinking Problems in Oscillations and Waves: Pendulum
A series of thought-intensive, multichoice questions concerning pendulums and provided for by the University of Maryland. A downloadable software program on pendulums is also included.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Using Ph Et Simulations in High School Open Ended Pendulum Labs
These labs provide examples of using very open-ended questions to guide students in exploring a simulation and designing their own experiments. These labs can lead to a high level of quantitative thinking about data analysis.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Hanging Out With Galileo
Students isolate the factors that determine the period of a pendulum, and then test their hypotheses to determine if their experimental results come close to the mathematical results.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Energy/momentum Ballistic Pendulum
Students must predict the pre-collision speed of a ball that has been captured by a ballistic pendulum.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Energy of Displaced Pendulum
Students must predict the speed a pendulum bob will have after it has reached the lowest point of its swing.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Robin Hood Swing
Students must predict how far Robin Hood will move horizontally as he first swings like a pendulum and then sails like a projectile into a lake below. This video explains the problem: https://youtu.be/4ZEmvPEJTW4
TOPS Learning Systems
Tops Learning Systems: Top Science: Paper Clip Pendulums [Pdf]
Investigate how the length of a pendulum's chain or string affects the frequency of its swings.
TOPS Learning Systems
Tops Learning Systems: Top Science: Clock Pendulum [Pdf]
Create a clock that accurately keeps time using a pendulum.
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona: Modeling With Sinusoidal Functions [Pdf]
This site provides several real-world application problems that can be solved using sinusoidal functions. Students are asked to sketch, model and solve the problems.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench: Double Inverted Pendulum Oscillating
Adjust frequency, amplitude, and perturbation in this simulation to graph the trajectory of a mass at the end of each pendulum.
Smithsonian Institution
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Foucault Pendulum
Provides a detailed description of the Foucault Pendulum and how it works. It was originally built to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.
University of St. Andrews (UK)
University of St. Andrews: Mac Tutor History of Mathematics: Christiaan Huygens
Biography of Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens. Hyperlinks to related information.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: The Simple Pendulum
By the end of this section, you will be able determine the period of oscillation of a hanging pendulum.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Work and Energy: Energy Transformation for a Pendulum
The motion of a pendulum is a classic example of mechanical energy conservation. See the mechanics at work here in this animation.
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Pendulum Motion
This tutorial investigates pendulum motion and how a variety of quantities change over the course of time. Such quantities will include forces, position, velocity and energy - both kinetic and potential energy. Take the interactive...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Pendulums Swing Into Motion
This lesson will allow students in groups to describe the relationship between energy, work, and force through the use of pendulums. The results will be reported through a graphing activity as well as a paragraph written and printed on...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Energy of a Pendulum
In this interactive, drag a pendulum to set its initial height and observe how height is related to potential energy. Then release the pendulum and observe the change from potential energy to kinetic energy, and ultimately to thermal...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physics: Harmonic Motion Study Guide
Explore and review harmonic motion with this illustrated guide.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physics Simulation: Oscillations Simulation
Use this interactive to learn the physics behind oscillation.