simple pendulum

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a hypothetical apparatus consisting of a point mass suspended from a weightless, frictionless thread whose length is constant, the motion of the body about the string being periodic and, if the angle of deviation from the original equilibrium position is small, representing simple harmonic motion (distinguished from physical pendulum).

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Example Sentences

Examples should include gravitational force exerted by the Earth on a simple pendulum and a mass-spring oscillator.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

A great complexity of surface activity, but all happening as a result of the tick-tock of a simple pendulum.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

The simple pendulum would be set swinging by the varying attraction and from its amplitude after a known number of swings of the outside pendulums G could be found.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various

If l be the length of a simple pendulum that oscillates in the same time, then lh = k′� = h� + k�.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

The greatest refinement of experimentation for elementary purposes will be the determination of "g" by the method of coincidences between a simple pendulum and the standard clock.

From College Teaching Studies in Methods of Teaching in the College by Klapper, Paul