Open AccessFrequency doubling in a pendulum
Author(s) -
S. Reinhold,
M. Ziese
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1361-6404
pISSN - 0143-0807
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6404/abc2db
Subject(s) - physics , acceleration , pendulum , angular velocity , azimuth , measure (data warehouse) , component (thermodynamics) , classical mechanics , optics , quantum mechanics , database , computer science
A smartphone is used as a pendulum bob to simultaneously measure the angular velocity and the acceleration of a pendulum. The data show a frequency doubling in the radial acceleration component compared with the angular velocity and the azimuthal acceleration component. This is mainly due to the centrifugal force and is an illustration of frequency doubling in a simple mechanical system. This experiment might be used in first year university physics courses to teach frequency analysis and frequency doubling in a home laboratory.