| Researchers | Annia Bilal Malik, Hibah Faisal, Huzaifa Shahzad Amin and Muhammad Salman Hassan |
| Time Frame | Fall 2025 |
| Supplementary Materials | Notes on the interrupted pendulum |
| Description | |
Small pendulum swings are supposed to be isochronous. But what if you interrupt the swing with a peg positioned off-center?
We tested this across five horizontal peg offsets and found that when the peg isn’t centered directly below the suspension point, the pendulum loses its isochronous property. Each peg position produces a distinct period, ranging from 0.8 to 1.8 seconds in our measurements. The system behaves like two different oscillators, creating an asymmetric potential that makes the period depend on amplitude. Only the centered case (z = 0) maintains near-isochronous behavior. Video tracking revealed the frequency differences clearly, while energy analysis showed exponential decay with damping coefficients of 0.016–0.026 /s, suggesting the peg interaction adds friction beyond air resistance.
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