MTH 251 MECHANICS 1

MODULE 3 THE SIMPLE PENDULUM

Unit 1 Simple Pendulum

UNIT 1 THE SIMPLE PENDULUM

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Simple Pendulum
3.2 Hooke’s Law
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The simple pendulum is one of the most common examples of simple harmonic
motion, at least as far as laboratory observation of oscillatory motions is concerned. A
harmonic motion is one for which the restoring force obeys Hooke’s law, provided the
displacement from equilibrium position is small. In that case the displacement,
velocity and acceleration towards the equilibrium position are represented by simple
sinusoidal functions of time or linear combinations of them. The term simple comes
into the definition as a result of the fact that the amplitude and therefore energy of the
system is conserved (constant) when dissipative (friction type) forces are negligible.
Then the curves of the dynamic variables such as displacement, velocity and
acceleration will be pure sine or cosine curves.

We are interested in this type of motion because, as you will recall from your college
physics, vibratory motion is one of the four fundamental motions in nature. Vibratory
or periodic motion is a prototype of the motions of most physical systems. The
structures of buildings, bridges and crystals such quartz used for the construction of
your wrist watch are in a state of vibration at all times. The motion of electrons in an
antenna that transmits or receives a radio signal is vibratory.

In this unit you will study the simple mathematical formulation of this important type
of motion and discuss the properties of the solutions of its differential equation.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 derive the equation of a simple pendulum

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 show that the equation of a simple pendulum is a particular case of the more
general equation of a simple harmonic oscillator
 demonstrate an understanding of the dependence of the period of a simple
pendulum on the length and local gravitational acceleration.
 Solve simple problems involving the simple solutions of the equation of the
simple pendulum.
 discuss elastic systems in terms of Hooke’s law
 calculate the energy stored in an elastic system
 show that a spring force is conservative.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Simple Pendulum

Consider a mass m suspended from a light inextensible string of length l, such that the
mass is free to swing from side to side in a vertical plane, as shown in Fig. a. This
setup is known as a simple pendulum. Let  be the angle subtended between the string
and the downward vertical. Obviously, the equilibrium state of the simple pendulum
corresponds to the situation in which the mass is stationary and hanging vertically
down (i.e.,  = 0). The angular equation of motion of the pendulum is simply


I =  (523)

where I is the moment of inertia of the mass, and  is the torque acting on the system.
For the case in hand, given that the mass is essentially a point particle, and is situated
a distance l from the axis of rotation (i.e., the pivot point), it is easily seen that I = ml2.

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The two forces acting on the mass are the downward gravitational force, mg, and the
tension, T, in the string. Note, however, that the tension makes no contribution to the
torque, since its line of action clearly passes through the pivot point. From simple
trigonometry, the line of action of the gravitational force passes a distance l sin  from
the pivot point. Hence, the magnitude of the gravitational torque is m g l sin .
Moreover, the gravitational torque is a restoring torque: i.e., if the mass is displaced
slightly from its equilibrium state (i.e.,  = 0) then the gravitational force clearly acts
to push the mass back toward that state. Thus, we can write

 = -m g l sin . 524

Combining the previous two equations, we obtain the following angular equation of
motion of the pendulum:

l  = -g sin. (525)

Unfortunately, this is not the simple harmonic equation. Indeed, the above equation
possesses no closed solution which can be expressed in terms of simple functions.

Suppose that we restrict our attention to relatively small deviations from the
equilibrium state. In other words, suppose that the angle  is constrained to take fairly
small values. We know, from trigonometry, that for less than about 60 it is a good
approximation to write
sin  . (526)

Hence, in the small angle limit, reduces to


l  = -g , (527)

which is in the familiar form of a simple harmonic equation. Comparing with our
original simple harmonic equation, and its solution, we conclude that the angular
frequency of small amplitude oscillations of a simple pendulum is given by

g
= . (528)
l

In this case, the pendulum frequency is dependent only on the length of the pendulum
and the local gravitational acceleration, and is independent of the mass of the
pendulum and the amplitude of the pendulum swings (provided that sin   remains
a good approximation). Historically, the simple pendulum was the basis of virtually
all accurate time-keeping devices before the advent of electronic clocks. Simple
pendulums can also be used to measure local variations in g.

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3.2 Hooke’s Law

Consider a mass m which slides over a horizontal frictionless surface. Suppose that the
mass is attached to a light horizontal spring whose other end is anchored to an
immovable object. See Fig. Let x be the extension of the spring: i.e., the difference
between the spring’s actual length and its unstretched length. Obviously, x can also be
used as a coordinate to determine the horizontal displacement of the mass. According
to Hooke’s law, the force f that the spring exerts on the mass is directly proportional to
its extension, and always acts to reduce this extension. Hence, we can write

f = - kx, (159)

where the positive quantity k is called the force constant and measures the stiffness of
the spring. Note that the minus sign in the above equation ensures that the force
always acts to reduce the spring’s extension: e.g., if the extension is positive then the
force acts to the left, so as to shorten the spring.

Mass on a spring

According to Eq. (140), the work performed by the spring force on the mass as it
moves from displacement xA to xB is
xB xB 1 1 
W= 
xA
f ( x)dx  k  xA
xdx    kxB2  kxA2  .
2 2 

Note that the right-hand side of the above expression consists of the difference
between two factors: the first only depends on the final state of the mass, whereas the
second only depends on its initial state. This is a sure sign that it is possible to
associate a potential energy with the spring force. Equation (155), which is the basic
definition of potential energy, yields

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xB 1 2 1 2
U(xB) – U(xA) = - xA
f ( x)dx 
2
kxB  kxA .
2
(161)

Hence, the potential energy of the mass takes the form

1 2
U(x) = kx . (162)
2

Note that the above potential energy actually represents energy stored by the spring –
in the form of mechanical stresses – when it is either stretched or compressed.
Incidentally, this energy must be stored without loss, otherwise the concept of
potential energy would be meaningless. It follows that the spring force is another
example of a conservative force.

It is reasonable to suppose that the form of the spring potential energy is somehow
related to the form of the spring force. Let us now explicitly investigate this
relationship. If we let xB  x and xA  0 then Eq. (161) gives

x
U(x) =   f ( x' )dx' (163)
0

We can differentiate this expression to obtain

dU
f=  . (164)
dx

Thus, in 1-dimension, a conservative force is equal to minus the derivative (with

respect to displacement) of its associated potential energy. This is a quite general
result. For the case of a spring force: U = (1/2) kx2, so f = -dU/dx = -kx.

As is easily demonstrated, the 3-dimensional equivalent to Eq. (164) is

 U U U 
F =   , , . (165)
 x y z 

For example, we have seen that the gravitational potential energy of a mass m moving
above the Earth’s surface is U = m g z, where z measures height off the ground. It
follows that the associated gravitational force is

f = (0, 0, -mg). (166)

In other words, the force is of magnitude m g, and is directed vertically downward.

The total energy of the mass shown in Fig. 42 is the sum of its kinetic and potential
energies:

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1 2
E=K+U=K+ kx . (167)
2

Of course, E remains constant during the mass’s motion. Hence, the above expression
can be rearranged to give
1 2
K=E- kx . (168)
2

Since it is impossible for a kinetic energy to be negative, the above expression

suggests that x can never exceed the value

2E
x0 = . (169)
k

Here, x0 is termed the amplitude of the mass’s motion. Note that when x attains its
maximum value x0, or its minimum value –x0, the kinetic energy is momentarily zero
(i.e., K = 0).

2.0 CONCLUSION
As in the summary.

5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit you have been introduced to the equation of a simple pendulum. It is a particular
case of the more general equation of a simple harmonic oscillator.

The period of the motion is independent of its mass but depends on its length and the value of
the local gravitational acceleration.

Simple harmonic oscillations are observed only for small displacements from their
equilibrium positions. Their restoring forces will then obey Hook’s law of elasticity.

For an elastic system, the work done by the elastic forces manifests as the change in its
potential energy. The total energy is the sum the kinetic and potential energies interchanged
as the elastic system is alternately stretched and compressed.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

i. Explain the term Hooke’s Law

ii. show that a spring force is conservative.

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7.0 REFERENCES / FURTHER READING

Theoretical Mechanics by Murray, R. Spiegel.

Advanced Engineering Mathematics by KREYSZIC.

Generalized function. Mathematical Physics by U. S. Vladinirou.

Vector Analysis and Mathematical Method by S. O. Ajibola. First Published

(2006).
Lecture Notes on Analytical Dynamics from LASU (1992).

Lecture Notes on Analytical Dynamics from FUTA (2008).

Lecture Notes on Analytical Dynamics from UNILORIN (1999)

Differential Games by Avner Friedman.

Classical Mechanics by TWB Kibble

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