Developed For: Handling Calculus, SMM Exhibit

Learning Objective: Users can explore the motion of a pendulum by doing various experiments and activities and watching its motion as it is graphed on a computer.

Developed By: Teresa Hung

Key Features: Users can use a couple of different measurement and recording tools on the computer: a graphing utility that can plot such variables as position and velocity vs. time; a tool that allows the user to time the period of the pendulum; as well as record a table of data to be able to compare results of multiple runs. Users can display “experiment cards” that offer ideas of what to try and test with the pendulum. An activity of “matching the graph” also encourages users to try adjusting variables that affect the pendulum’s swing in order to match a graph of its motion with another one randomly generated on the screen.

R & D Challenges: Create a user-friendly interface in a new Java programming development environment called Magik. Create tools and activities that encourage experimentation with various properties of the pendulum: length, mass, period, starting position, and damping sails. Encourage and inspire visitors to think about pendulums in the real-world: the sway of buildings, the swing of our legs and upper bodies when we walk, and the swing of a pendulum clock.