Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Trig and Forces: The Pendulum
Using Newton's Laws of motion to calculate the acceleration of a pendulum as well as to compute and draw its position along the swing and move about the screen in a computationally based graphic system.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Pendulum
An interactive tool where students can explore how a pendulum works, and how length, mass, angle, and friction affect its motion or period. As the pendulum moves, its motion is shown in an angle-time graph.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Pendulum and Spring
An interactive tool where students can explore how a pendulum behaves when attached to a spring, which means the length of the attachment is always changing. As the pendulum moves, its motion is shown on two graphs.
![Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion [Pdf] Article](https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion [Pdf] Article")
Story Behind the Science
Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion [Pdf]
The history of the pendulum and its importance both in timekeeping, and in how timekeeping was used to solve other problems, such as determining longitude on a map.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Pendulum Lab
Manipulate the mass of a weight and the length of string in this interactive pendulum simulation. Change the speed, friction, and gravity to make the pendulum swing change as measurements are displayed on the screen. Younger students can...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Period of a Pendulum Investigation
Using a simulation, students will determine that the pendulum period is affected by the length of the pendulum and gravity but not mass in this activity.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Periodic Motion, the Pendulum
The Illinois Institute of Technology offers this lesson plan to teach high school students the concept of periodic motion and relate it to the movement of a pendulum.
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...
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Pendulum Lab
This lab is designed to have students investigate the factors that affect the rate at which a pendulum oscillates. Students can change the length of the pendulum, the angle of release, and the heavenly body on which the pendulum is...
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Pendulum Energy Model
A simulation exploring the energy produced by a simple pendulum, written for middle school. Includes a lesson plan with accompanying worksheets.
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Double Pendulum Poincare Map
A double pendulum model where the angles and angular velocities can be manipulated and the effects observed.
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Double Pendulum Phase Space Model
Adjust to conditions of a double pendulum model and observe the results in an accompanying graph.
Story Behind the Science
Story Behind the Science: Pendulum Motion, Time, and Shape of Earth [Pdf]
Article outlining the scientific history behind the evolution of theories about measuring time based on the movement of a pendulum, and about how gravity would impact a pendulum's movement depending on one's proximity to the Earth's...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Foucault Pendulum
Students learn about the Foucault pendulum, an engineering tool used to demonstrate and measure the Earth's rotation. Student groups then create small experimental versions, each comprised of a pendulum and a video camera mounted on a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Android Pendulums
Students investigate the motion of a simple pendulum through direct observation and data collection using Android devices and the AccelDataCapture app.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Into the Swing of Things
Young scholars learn the basic properties of periodic and harmonic motion, and how the rearrangement of the simple pendulum equation can be used to solve for gravitational acceleration, pendulum length, and gravity. At lesson end,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Calculating the Effect of Mass, Length and Displacement
In this physics lab activity students investigate how mass, length and angular displacement affect the period of a simple pendulum. Students control variables, testing one variable at a time, using manual techniques (stopwatch, human...
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.
PBS
Pbs Kids: Zoom Science: Introduction to Pendulums
What is a pendulum? What makes it swing? Who was Leon Foucault? Discover the answers to these and related questions.
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...
Concord Consortium
The Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench: A Pendulum
Change the mass of a suspended object to see how its movement and forces are affected by gravity.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Mechanics of Standing Balance
This is a 5-question quiz to help prepare for the MCAT. It uses the analogy between a standing patient and an inverted pendulum and the mechanics of standing balance.
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.
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.