Report 2nd Exam

Pendulum of a Length L
Recall the equation describing the motion of a pendulum of length L (with damping due to
friction and no other external forces):

d2 θ g dθ
+ sin(θ) + μ = 0,
dt2 L dt
where θ is the angle with respect to the downward vertical and μ is the daming coefficient -
representing the strength of the drag force.

State-space form

x1 = y
x2 = dy/dt = y′

dx1
= x2 (t)
dt
dx2 g
= − sin(x1 (t)) − μx2 (t)
dt L
where dx
dt
1
is the angle and dx
dt
1
is the angular velocity.

Experiment 1: zero initial velocity

L = 1
miu = 0.02 % daming coefficient

t0 = 0; % initial time
tf = 15; % final time

X_1 = pi/2; % angle

X_2 = 0; % angular velocity

Report 2nd Exam 1

 when the angular speed starts at zero and the angle is π/2 we can see how the oscillations are
formed from the angle.

Experiment 2: changing angular velocity

L = 1
miu = 0.02 % daming coefficient

t0 = 0; % initial time
tf = 15; % final time

X_1 = pi/2; % angle

X_2 = 2*pi; % angular velocity

Report 2nd Exam 2

 When we enter an angular velocity of 2 ∗ π we see how the change in x1 increases as x2
oscillates.

Experiment 3: changing angular velocity and daming coeff.

L = 1
miu = 0.02 % daming coefficient

t0 = 0; % initial time
tf = 15; % final time

X_1 = pi/2; % angle

X_2 = pi; % angular velocity

Report 2nd Exam 3

 With a speed of π large oscillations of x2 are generated.

Experiment 4: changing the daming coeff.

L = 1
miu = 0.1 % daming coefficient

t0 = 0; % initial time
tf = 15; % final time

X_1 = pi/2; % angle

X_2 = pi; % angular velocity

Report 2nd Exam 4

 Changing μ we get impact on the pendulum force.

Experiment 5: changing the daming coeff.

L = 1
miu = 0.5 % daming coefficient

t0 = 0; % initial time
tf = 15; % final time

X_1 = pi/2; % angle

X_2 = pi; % angular velocity

Report 2nd Exam 5

 When μ is large, it generates a first impact and then slows down.

Report 2nd Exam 6