18) Pendulum

PENDULUM

A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force combined with the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing.

From the first scientific investigations of the pendulum around 1602 by Galileo Galilei, the regular motion of pendulums was used for timekeeping, and was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s.The pendulum clockinvented by Christian Huygens in 1658 became the world's standard timekeeper, used in homes and offices for 270 years, and achieved accuracy of about one second per year before it was superseded as a time standard by the quartz clock in the 1930s.

 Pendulums are also used in scientific instruments such as accelerometers and seismometers. Historically they were used as gravimeters to measure the acceleration of gravity in geophysical surveys, and even as a standard of length. The word "pendulum" is new Latin, from the Latin pendulus, meaning 'hanging'.

MODELED BY AMAL NAMBIAR

Modeled in Creo and rendered in Keyshot

PENDULUM FACTS :

• Holistic medical practitioners may sometimes use a dowsing pendulum for making diagnoses and determining the most appropriate treatment for a patient’s condition. The pendulum is held over different parts of the body and, depending on how the pendulum swings, the practitioner determines the locations of infections. The pendulum is also placed over a range of remedies; the medications that are most beneficial for the patient are supposed to stimulate the pendulum to move in their direction.

• Galileo observed a swinging chandelier in a cathedral in 1588, demonstrating an apparently continuous perpetual motion. This observation instigated an in-depth study of pendulums. Around 1602 Galileo began serious investigations into the usefulness of the pendulum as a time-keeping device. Galileo failed to produce a functional timepiece, due to problems with air friction and the difficulty of transferring the energy from the pendulum's oscillations to a cog-wheel.

• Psychics and healers have used pendulums since ancient times for divination, locating things or simply seeking the answer to a question. These pendulums were usually made from a crystal or a gold ring hanging from a silk cord or a light gold chain. The pendulum is allowed swing freely while a yes/no question is asked. The direction the pendulum swings--either clockwise, counter-clockwise or from side to side--suggests the answer. Held over a map, the pendulum is gradually moved motionless across the map, and when it starts to swing or drops, the location is recorded. This method is used for finding gold, oil, and minerals for mining as well as to locate underground water, find a lost object and even locate people.

Footnotes:
Sources: wiki,Pendulum-facts