Mathematics for Physics 3: Dynamics and Dierential Equations 48

7 Lecture 7: Harmonic motion; simple Pendulum

Pendulum: EoM derivation from Newton second law
Our next subject is that of harmonic motion. Let us start with a simple example, the Pendulum. We assume that a
mass m is connected to the lower end of a massless rod of length l. The system is described in figure 7.

Figure 7: Simple Pendulum. The arrows show the two forces acting on the mass m: gravitational force mg downwards
and the tension Ft along the direction of the rod.

Let us begin writing the position of the mass m in terms of Cartesian coordinates in a frame located at the fixed
point where the upper end of the rod is attached. The y direction is up and the x direction is right. Let us assume
that the angle of deflection (the deviation of the rod from the vertical) at a given moment is ( is positive for
deflection to the right, and negative to the left). The position of the mass m is then:

r = x sin() y cos() l l r (126)

where we defined the direction r as the direction along the rod, towards the mass. Note that the motion itself is
along an arc of radius l, an infinitesimal distance element along this arc is given by l d where d is the corresponding
infinitesimal change of the angle .
Next, the velocity is the derivative of the position vector in (126) with respect to time. Since the Cartesian frame
define by x and y is fixed, the derivative acts only on = (t). Using the chain rule we obtain:

r = x cos() + y sin() l l (127)

where we defined the direction as the direction perpendicular to r, increasing the angle . Finally, taking another
time derivative we obtain the acceleration vector:

r = x cos() + y sin() l x sin() y cos() l2 = l rl2 (128)

where in the last expression we converted the acceleration into the coordinates r and .
N.B the r and directions vary with time, so although v = l is oriented at any given moment along the
direction, the acceleration is not!
Let us now turn to analyse the forces acting on the mass m. There are two forces: gravitation, downwards, and
the rods tension Ft > 0, along the direction of the rod, i.e. in the direction r. In a vector form the total external
force on the mass m is:
F ext = mg y Ft r = mg cos()r mg sin() Ft r (129)
where in the second expression we decomposed the gravitational force into a radial and angular components.
Writing now the second Newton law for the mass m in a vector form we have:

mr = F ext (130)

Substituting the expression for the acceleration from (128) and the expression for the force from (129) we have:

ml2 r + ml = mg cos() Ft r mg sin()
Mathematics for Physics 3: Dynamics and Dierential Equations 49

Comparing the separate components in the r and directions respectively, we obtain two equations of motion:

ml2 = Ft mg cos() (131)

ml = mg sin() (132)

The first equation, in the radial direction, relates the centripetal acceleration l2 to the centripetal force which is com-
posed of the rods tension minus the radial component of the gravitational force. The second equation describes the
rate of change of the angular velocity resulting from the component of the gravitational force acting perpendicular
to the rod. It is the latter equation we need to solve in order to determine (t).
Our equation of motion is then:
d2 2 g
+ sin() = 0 = (133)
dt2 l
where we identified the characteristic frequency . This equation is non-linear, and indeed dicult to solve. However,
by restricting our discussion to oscillation at small angles, where sin() , we get:

d2 2 g
+ = 0 = (134)
dt2 l
This is precisely the same equation we wrote down in the first lecture for the motion of a mass connected to a spring
according to Hookes law, eq. (21).

Pendulum: EoM derivation from energy considerations

Before discussing the solution of this equation, let us have another look at the pendulum and present an alternative
derivation based on energy considerations. Let us begin with Cartesian coordinates whose origin is located at the
fixed point where the upper end of the rod is attached. Let y be the vertical direction up, and x be the horizontal
(right). The position of the mass is then:

x = l sin() , y = l cos() . (135)

The velocity in these coordinates is:

x = l cos() , y = l sin() .
Therefore the Kinetic energy is:
m 2 1
T = x + y 2 = m l2 2 . (136)
2 2
The potential energy is only due to gravity. The gravitational force is F = Fy y = mg y. Recall the definition of a
potential from the first lecture:
dV (y)
Fy =
dy
This implies that
V (y) = mgy = mgl cos() ,
where in the second expression we substituted for y according to (135). The total mechanical energy E = T + V is
conserved (there are no non-conservative forces such as friction). Therefore, we can determine the motion from the
condition that
1
E = T + V = m l2 2 mgl cos() (137)
2
remains invariant throughout the motion. One way to proceed is to try solving (137) as a first order ODE for (t).
The alternative is to derive a second order EoM by taking a derivative of (137) with respect to time, which is then
required to vanish. The two separate terms corresponding to the kinetic and potential energy clearly depend on
time, since depends on time. So we write:

dE d 1
0= = m l2 2 mgl cos()
dt dt 2

d d 1 d d (138)
= m l2 2 mgl cos()
dt d 2 dt d
= m l2 + mgl sin()

Clearly, this requires:

l + g sin() = 0
Mathematics for Physics 3: Dynamics and Dierential Equations 50

which coincides with the EoM we derived directly from the second Newton law, eq (133).
Note that for small angles the potential energy is quadratic in the angle:
1
V (y) = mgy = mgl cos() mgl 1 2 + ,
2
where the constant term mgl is unimportant and can therefore dropped, redefining the overall energy. In this case
the total energy is
ml2 2 g 2 ml2 2
E =T +V = + = + 2 2 (139)
2 l 2
and the resulting equation of motion (which you may derive imposing dE/dt = 0) is (134).

Simple harmonic motion

Let us now solve the equation of motion of a pendulum at small angles, eq. (134) above,

g
+ 2 = 0 = (140)
l

under the initial conditions that the angle at time t = 0 was 0 and the velocity at t = 0 was 0 .

Figure 8: Oscillations in the kinetic (dots) and potential energy (line) components as a function of time (here = 2),
preserving their sum E = 1. Here we have chosen initial conditions such that the entire energy at t = 0 is potential,
so in (141) and (142) we have = 0.

We have already seen that both (t) = cos(t) and (t) = sin(t) solve (140). The general solution can be written
as a linear combination of the two:

(t) = A cos(t) + B sin(t) = C cos(t + ) (141)

where the two parameters, a and B, or equivalently C and can be determined by the initial conditions. These
imply:
C cos(0 + ) = 0 , C sin(0 + ) = 0
which implies that
0
= arctan , C = 0 / cos() .
0

Let us now verify that the solution is consistent with the constant energy condition in (142):

ml2 2 ml2
E =T +V = + 2 2 = C 2 2 sin2 (t + ) + 2 C 2 cos2 (t + ) (142)
2 2
Kinetic Potential

which is indeed a constant, and we identify the total energy as

ml2 2 2
E= C .
2
Mathematics for Physics 3: Dynamics and Dierential Equations 51

Notice that the potential and kinetic energy components oscillate harmonically in such a way that their sum is
preserved. This is illustrated in figure 8.
We note that there are instances where the entire energy is potential. This occurs whenever the mass is momen-
tarily at rest, = 0, i.e.
= C sin(t + ) = 0
this is realised for any time such that
n
t + = n = t=

where n is an integer (in figure 8, where = 2 and = 0, this happens at t = 0, /2, , . . .). In general these points
are called turning points: the velocity vanishes where the direction of motion is reversed.
There are also instances where the entire energy is kinetic. This occurs whenever the potential energy reaches
its minimum (since the reference point for the potential is unimportant, we usually define it such that the minimum
corresponds to V = 0 and then E = T ). For the pendulum this corresponds to the point where = 0, i.e. when

(t) = C cos(t + ) = 0

This occurs whenever

(n + 1/2)
t + = (n + 1/2) = t=

where n is an integer (in figure 8, where = 2 and = 0, this happens at t = /4, 3/4, . . .). In general we call such
a minimum of the potential an equilibrium point. At this point, momentarily no forces are active.