In this simple monstrance of how undulation work , a Harvard instructor shows how a grouping of pendulums can move through a complicated saltation together — due alone to the way each pendulum oscillates at a different rate .
Here ’s the explanation provide bythe Harvard on-line natural science presentment series :
What it shows : Fifteen uncoupled unsubdivided pendulums of monotonically increasing lengths trip the light fantastic together to produce visual traveling waves , stand waves , whipping , and random motion . . .

How it work : The period of one complete bike of the dancing is 60 second . The length of the longest pendulum has been adjust so that it executes 51 oscillations in this 60 2d period of time . The length of each sequential shorter pendulum is cautiously adjusted so that it execute one additional oscillation in this period . Thus , the fifteenth pendulum ( shortest ) undergo 65 cycle . When all 15 pendulums are started together , they quickly fall out of sync - their comparative phase continuously change because of their different point of cycle . However , after 60 moment they will all have do an inbuilt number of vibration and be back in sync again at that exigent , ready to iterate the dance .
PhysicsScience
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