Blackburn pendulum
Encyclopedia
A Blackburn pendulum, named after Hugh Blackburn
, is a device for illustrating harmonic motion
. A bob is suspended from a string that in turn hangs from a V-shaped pair of strings, so that the pendulum oscillates simultaneously in two perpendicular directions with different periods. The bob consequently follows a path resembling a Lissajous curve
.
Hugh Blackburn
Bailie Hugh Blackburn was a Scottish mathematician. A lifelong friend of William Thomson , and the husband of illustrator Jemima Blackburn, he was professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow from 1849 to 1879...
, is a device for illustrating harmonic motion
Harmonic motion
Harmonic motion can mean:*The motion of a Harmonic oscillator , which can be:**Simple harmonic motion**Complex harmonic motion*Keplers laws of planetary motion...
. A bob is suspended from a string that in turn hangs from a V-shaped pair of strings, so that the pendulum oscillates simultaneously in two perpendicular directions with different periods. The bob consequently follows a path resembling a Lissajous curve
Lissajous curve
In mathematics, a Lissajous curve , also known as Lissajous figure or Bowditch curve, is the graph of a system of parametric equationswhich describe complex harmonic motion...
.