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Controlled damping of a physical pendulum: Experiments near critical

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Article  in  European Journal of Physics · January 2006

DOI: 10.1088/0143-0807/27/2/008

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INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
Eur. J. Phys. 27 (2006) 257–264 doi:10.1088/0143-0807/27/2/008

Controlled damping of a physical

pendulum: experiments near critical
conditions
Manuel I González and Alfredo Bol
Departamento de Fı́sica, Universidad de Burgos, Avda. Cantabria E-09006 Burgos, Spain

E-mail: miglez@ubu.es

Received 16 September 2005, in final form 20 November 2005

Published 11 January 2006
Online at stacks.iop.org/EJP/27/257

Abstract
This paper presents an experimental device for the study of damped oscillatory
motion along with three associated experiments. Special emphasis is given on
both didactic aspects and the interactivity of the experimental set-up, in order
to assist students in understanding fundamental aspects of damped oscillatory
motion and allow them to directly compare their experimental results with
the well-known theory they can find in textbooks. With this in mind, a
physical pendulum was selected with an eddy-current damping system that
allows the damping conditions to be controlled with great precision. The three
experiments examine accurate control of damping, frequency shift near critical
damping and the transition from underdamped to overdamped conditions.

1. Introduction

Real swinging systems exhibit damped oscillations. The equation of motion can include
several damping terms to explain such behaviour: the viscous term that is proportional to the
first power of the velocity, the quadratic velocity damping term and the velocity-independent
constant term. Considerable attention has been paid to the problem from both theoretical as
well as experimental perspectives. In [1, 2] theoretical models can be found to solve the three
cases. Squire [2] presents a single device that allows the study of the three cases while Wang
[1] describes three different set-ups for the same purpose. Partial studies considering one or
two of these three damping cases that apply theoretical, experimental or computer-simulated
approaches may also be found in the literature [3–7].
Linear damping is the most extensively studied case because an analytical solution exists
and it is easy to draw a direct comparison with experimental data. Two common techniques
are used in the laboratory to produce linear damping: submersion of the oscillating object in
a viscous liquid and, more frequently, electromagnetic damping by means of eddy currents.
0143-0807/06/020257+08$30.00

c 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 257
258 M I González and A Bol

The main advantage offered by the second procedure is accurate control of damping as opposed
to the limitations imposed by the use of damping liquids. This work deals with linearly damped
oscillatory motion, and pays special attention to the didactic aspects of the phenomenon. In
particular, our main goals are as follows:
(i) Enable direct observation of the oscillator swing and its amplitude decay even in the
absence of visualizing facilities. (High frequency or low amplitude oscillators have
therefore been discarded).
(ii) Ensure a high degree of interactivity in the acquisition of data to enable students to obtain
information by themselves with minimal instruction.
(iii) Allow accurate control and repeatability of damping parameters.
(iv) Facilitate the study of oscillations from free motion to overdamping with only slight
modifications to the device.
The following sections of this work contain a brief theoretical description of oscillatory
motion with the linear damping term (section 2), a description of the experimental set-up (3),
three illustrative experiments on damped motion (4) and the conclusions (5).

2. Theoretical model

The differential equation of motion for a physical pendulum with linear damping is
d2 ψ dψ
I 2 +b + mgdψ = 0. (1)
dt dt
In this equation ψ represents the angular position of the pendulum measured with respect to
the equilibrium position, I is its moment of inertia, b is the damping coefficient, m is the mass
of the pendulum, g is the acceleration of gravity, and d is the distance from the oscillation axis
to the centre of mass.
It is well known that ideal undamped low amplitude oscillations are sinusoidal with period
and angular frequency given by


2π I
T0 = = 2π . (2)
ω0 mgd
The analytical solution in the damped case (b
= 0) also exists, though its form depends on
the magnitude of the damping coefficient.
• With low damping coefficients, the pendulum oscillates with an exponentially decreasing
amplitude,
ψ(t) = A e−γ t cos(ωt + θ ), (3)
where
b
γ = (4)
2I
and the angular frequency is

ω = ω02 − γ 2 , (5)
then the oscillations are slower than in the undamped case.
• If γ > ω0 then the motion is not oscillatory. Under these conditions, a pendulum
slowly reaches its equilibrium position when released away from it. This is the so-called
overdamped motion. The solution to the equation of motion is
ψ(t) = C1 e−γ1 t + C2 e−γ2 t , (6)
√ √
where γ1 = γ + γ 2 − ω02 and γ2 = γ − γ 2 − ω02 .
Controlled damping of a physical pendulum 259

Figure 1. Diagram of the experimental device.

• Finally, wherever γ = ω0 damping is called critical and motion is described by

ψ(t) = (A + Bt) e−γ t . (7)

3. Experimental device

Figure 1 shows the experimental device designed to achieve the goals established in section 1.
The pendulum consists of a rod along which a bob can slide and from which it can even be
removed. Two low-friction bearings allow the pendulum to swing for approximately 10 min
when given an initial amplitude of 45◦ .
An electromagnetic damping system was chosen that consists of an aluminium wheel
placed between the poles of a U-shaped electromagnet. The high current intensities (up to
10 A) required by the electromagnet are supplied by a dc power source. The eddy currents
induced in the wheel exert a braking torque proportional to the angular velocity of the
pendulum, thus acting as a source of linear damping.
Goal (iii) requires the variable damping coefficients b to be accurately set. But the
electromagnet nucleus displays hysteretic behaviour, hence the relation between current
intensity I and the desired coefficient b is neither linear nor unique. For this reason, the
magnetic field must be directly measured for which purpose a magnetic field probe is placed
between the poles, near the wheel. Measurement of this reference magnetic field, henceforth
Bref , will allow, using calibratory methods, accurate and repeatable determination of the
coefficient b that is applied at any particular moment.
The angular position of the pendulum has been measured with an industrial rotary variable
inductance transducer (RVIT) [8]. Its main advantages are its wide range (from −60◦ to
+60◦ ), accuracy (resolution of 0.04◦ and linearity error of 0.15◦ ) and high sampling rate (up to
200 Hz). Although the sensor exerts additional damping that is absent in optical sensors,
a rough estimation indicates that such damping is at worst a small fraction of the damping
caused by the bearings.
260 M I González and A Bol

30

25
3

ψ/deg
20
1
ψ/deg

15 0
25 30 35
t/s

10

A(t) = 27. 998e−0. 0919t

5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
t/s

Figure 2. Sampling (circles) of underdamped motion and exponential adjustment (solid line) of
the maxima. The inset shows a magnification of the tail.

The RVIT output signal is transferred to a PC interfaced with an A/D conversion card. A
simple computer program developed by the authors gives students the opportunity to visualize
the angle in real time and to perform data processing, as required by goals (i) and (ii).

4. Experimental procedure: results and discussion

The following sections describe a number of experiments that may be carried out with the set-
up. They have been designed to achieve goal (ii), i.e., students should be able to perform these
experiments, completely or partially, by themselves with minimal instructions. Furthermore,
due to the low friction of the bearings that support the pendulum, a number of experiments
that examine simple harmonic motion (not referred to in this paper) may also be performed.
These, together with experiments on damped motion, enable students to gain comprehensive
insights into oscillatory phenomena.

4.1. Decreasing amplitude in underdamped motion: controlling the damping parameter

Due to the high sampling rate of the RVIT, a large number of angle and time samplings
per period are available. Therefore, students can check (3) by selecting certain maxima
coordinates and performing an exponential fit using γ and initial amplitude as their adjustment
parameters. Figure 2 shows one such example. The quality of the fit is remarkably good with
large amplitudes but becomes poorer (see the inset) as the angle decreases. At this point,
students should realize that the linear damping approximation underlying (3) is no longer
dominant for low amplitudes, and other factors, such as friction in bearings and in the RVIT
sensor, and perhaps air drag force, assume greater importance.
To achieve goal (iii), a relationship between the magnetic field Bref and the damping
coefficient b has to be found. According to the laws of electromagnetic induction, the
2
coefficient b must be proportional to Bref , see, for example, [9]. Students are not expected to
Controlled damping of a physical pendulum 261

1.60

1.40

1.20

1.00
b/N m s

0.80
d = 469 mm

0.60
d = 359 mm

0.40 d = 240 mm

0.20 d = 153 mm

0.00
0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025 0.030 0.035
B 2 /T 2

2 for several bob positions. Experimental uncertainties

Figure 3. Damping coefficient b versus Bref
at each point are of the same order of magnitude as the symbol size.

complete this rather tedious calibration task which we performed by selecting several positions
of the bob, defined by the values of the distance d from the oscillation axis to the centre of
mass of the pendulum: 46.9 cm, 35.9 cm, 24.0 cm and 15.3 cm. For each bob location, the
angular position ψ(t) was recorded for values of the induction field Bref ranging from 0 to
175 mT at 25 mT intervals. The data sets with the induction field off were used to obtain
the free oscillation frequency ω0 and, with the help of (2), the pendulum’s moments of inertia
were found. Each data set with the induction field on was used to calculate, as previously
explained, the parameter γ and, using definition (4), the damping coefficients b.
2
From figure 3, it can be inferred that the relation between b and Bref is truly linear and it
can be considered unique regardless of the bob position.

4.2. Free frequency shift in damped motion

Equation (5) shows that free oscillation frequency ω0 is larger than the frequency of the
damped motion ω. This issue is usually taught in an exclusively theoretical way because of
the difficulties associated with the measurement of this shift: the difference between ω and
ω0 is often considered negligible, for example, in [1, 7]. In this work, a method is presented
to determine such differences.
The experimental conditions in the preceding section are such that the ratio ωγ0 is generally
much smaller than unity and, as a consequence, the frequency redshift is difficult to measure.
However, removing the bob of the pendulum greatly reduces the moment of inertia I and, for
a given Bref , the coefficient γ also increases significantly.
Unfortunately, when damping is large enough to enable easy measurement of the
frequency variation, the exponential envelope of the curve ψ(t) is no longer tangent to the
maxima of this curve, not even approximately, and the method presented in the preceding
section cannot be used. The zeros of the curve ψ(t) are indeed half a period apart, but the
262 M I González and A Bol

30

25

20

Sampled
15 Least-squares fit

10
ψ/deg

0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

-5

-10

-15
t/s

Figure 4. Sampling (dots) of the angular positions for damped oscillating motion. For the sake
of clarity, only one of each four points are displayed. The solid line represents the corresponding
four-parameter least-squares non-linear fit obtained with Mathematica R
.

amplitude decreases so fast that the pendulum can complete only a few oscillations before
stopping, and the period uncertainty is larger.
To overcome these restrictions the sampled ψ(t) can be fitted directly to equation (3).
This is a four-parameter (A, γ , ω, θ ) non-linear fit that some commercial packages, such as
Mathematica R
(a registered trademark of Wolfram Research), can perform even without any
initial estimates of the parameters. An example of one of these adjustments is shown in
figure 4.
Such fits have been performed for different values of Bref 25 mT apart. Five samplings
were done for each value of Bref ; in each case the least-squares fits for γ and ω were calculated,
and then averaged out. Finally, the free oscillation frequencies ω0 given by relation (5) were
calculated.
Figure 5 summarizes the results and highlights two relevant facts. The first is an evident
reduction in the measured angular frequency with increasing damping, which we wished to
demonstrate. The second is that the calculated free oscillation angular frequency ω0 quite
clearly increases with respect to the undamped case. This is consistent with McCarthy’s
analysis [10] which shows how eddy-current inductance increases the effective restoring force
on the pendulum, hence its free frequency also increases.

4.3. The transition from underdamping to overdamping

Students can also use the set-up shown here to check the behaviour of the pendulum in the
vicinity of critical damping. For this purpose, the bob of the pendulum must be removed, as
in the previous experiment.
As an example, figure 6 shows five samplings of the angular position ψ(t) and the
corresponding values of the damping magnetic field Bref . All of them have been recorded with
the same initial conditions: ψ(0) = 38◦ , ψ̇(0) = 0 s−1 .
Controlled damping of a physical pendulum 263

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0
ω0
−1
ω, γ, ω / s
2.5 ω
0

2.0 γ

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Bref/mT

Figure 5. Measured angular frequency ω (open diamonds), measured damping parameter γ

(squares) and calculated free angular frequency ω0 (solid diamonds) for different values of the
induction field Bref . Uncertainties are defined as the standard deviation linked to the five samplings
performed for each value and can be perceived in only two cases.

40

35

30
Bref = 200 mT
25

20 Bref = 190 mT
ψ/deg

15 Bref = 180 mT

10
Bref = 160 mT

5
Bref = 170 mT

-5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.2 2.0
t/s

Figure 6. Samples of angular displacements ψ(t) in the vicinity of critical damping and theoretical
critical angular displacement (solid line).

Also shown in the same figure in thick trace is the theoretical curve, expression (7),
that corresponds to critical damping. This is reached for magnetic fields ranging 170–
180 mT and is, in fact, the result predicted by an algorithm used to identify critical conditions
[11]. However, this tool is not used by students. It may also be observed that the pendulum
 264 M I González and A Bol

behaviour at low amplitudes significantly differs from that predicted by expression (7). In
all probability, one of the reasons is that, as indicated in section 4.1, at low amplitudes and
velocities the linear damping term is no longer dominant.

5. Conclusions

The purpose of the experimental set-up design is to enhance the teaching–learning process of
damped oscillatory motion, in which damping can be continuously varied and is accurately
controlled by eddy currents produced on an attached aluminium wheel.
Students have the opportunity to analyse several aspects of damped oscillatory motion
that become apparent in the three particular experiments that have been presented: controlled
underdamped motion, frequency shift in damped motion and the transition from underdamped
to overdamped motion. The first experiment shows that the damping can be accurately
controlled by varying the magnetic induction in the braking mechanism. A four-parameter
non-linear fit was used in the second experiment to show the frequency redshift. Although
often taught on a theoretical basis, this well-established phenomenon is seldom demonstrated
through practical experiments. Finally, the observed transition from under- to overdamped
motion fulfils the theoretical predictions under large amplitude conditions.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge financial support from Consejerı́a de Educación of Junta
de Castilla y León under project no EDU04/UBU02. They would also like to express their
gratitude to Dr Isabel Blanco Montenegro and Dr Nicolás A Cordero for their suggestions.

References
[1] Wang X, Schmitt C and Payne M 2002 Eur. J. Phys. 23 155
[2] Squire P T 1986 Am. J. Phys. 54 984
[3] Zonetti L F C, Camargo A S S, Sartori J, de Sousa D F and Nunes L A O 1999 Eur. J. Phys. 20 85
[4] Marchewka A, Abbott D S and Beichner R J 2004 Am. J. Phys. 72 477
[5] Gupta V K, Shanker G and Sharma N K 1986 Am. J. Phys. 54 619
[6] Libii J N 2000 Am. J. Phys. 68 195
[7] Alexander P and Indelicato E 2005 Eur. J. Phys. 26 1
[8] Schaevitz Sensors www.schaevitz.com
[9] González M I 2004 Eur. J. Phys. 25 463
[10] McCarthy L 1996 Am. J. Phys. 64 885
[11] Heald M A 1978 Am. J. Phys. 46 989

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