mathematik

1. Conduct some research on pendulums. Write a paragraph or two detailing the history and usefulness of pendulums. Also include the impact of the weight on the period of the pendulum and an explanation of why this occurs. Be sure to follow the guidelines and safety precautions for completing internet searches.

A very common, yet unexpected, use of the pendulum is the average child's swing. I spent my entire childhood swinging on one of these, and never once thought of it in this way. These swings put joy into our time as a child and also are very useful in putting us to sleep as babies! Another use is that in which a computer uses the pendulum to detect sudden destructive movements to a car. It can be used to detect criminals attempting to break into cars, accidents, and many other things. A third use is in … clocks! As I sit here and type this today, I can see our grandfather clock just ticking away. It uses a large pendulum to keep time, with the pendulum swinging at about 2 swings a second. Overall, they're very useful in our lives, even in unexpected ways.
One of the first pendulums was invented by a Han Dynasty scientist, Zhang Hang. He used it to create the world's first seismograph. It was hung next to a vase containing a ball, and then when the earthquake happened, the pendulum would move, knocking over the vase and sending the ball down a long series of levers. The next recorded use is “as sources of power for manual reciprocating machines such as saws, bellows, and pumps.” This was during the Renaissance and, in plain English, means that they harnessed the continual motion to power machines. Galileo Galilei was the first to discover the timekeeping property of pendulums, their isochronism. He defined this as the fact that the period is independent regardless of the weight of the weight and the width of the swing. Early uses for his pendulum theory include the metronome, pulsilogium, and the first pendulum clock.