Simple pendulum with speed-independent bearing friction

Damping of an oscillator is often analyzed in terms of linear or quadratic drag as the object moves through a fluid such as air. Here attention is instead focused on the frictional torque in the bearing of a rigidly swinging pendulum. Two simple models are proposed to describe the bearing. First, it...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of physics 2022-07, Vol.43 (4), p.45001
Main Authors: Mungan, Carl E, Lipscombe, Trevor C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bearing
frictional torque
numerical analysis
pendulum
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Summary:Damping of an oscillator is often analyzed in terms of linear or quadratic drag as the object moves through a fluid such as air. Here attention is instead focused on the frictional torque in the bearing of a rigidly swinging pendulum. Two simple models are proposed to describe the bearing. First, it is considered to be two concentric cylinders with friction acting at one point of contact between them. Second, the bearing is taken to be composed of small balls in the race between the two cylinders, so that there are many points of contact over which the frictional force is distributed. The level of analysis in these two models is accessible to students in a first university course in calculus-based mechanics.
ISSN:0143-0807
1361-6404
DOI:10.1088/1361-6404/ac646a