Calculating force required to keep pendulum in motion

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the force required to keep a pendulum in motion, one must consider the energy lost due to friction and damping over a specific number of oscillations. The initial force applied to the pendulum is 3.5 kgf, with a displacement angle of 20 degrees and a length of 30 cm. The pendulum, weighing 10 kg, experiences a significant loss of energy, coming to rest after approximately 40 cycles, which takes about 40 seconds. To find the energy loss per cycle, one can analyze the work done against friction and damping forces. Ultimately, determining the force needed to maintain motion involves calculating these losses and compensating for them with additional force.
starcrossed
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Hi,

I am interested in calculating the force required to keep a pendulum in motion. I believe This force will be same as the frictional loss + other dampening loss happening in the oscillations.

now,

I know the initial push or force that i am giving to the pendulum. let initial force given to pendulum be 3.5 Kg force-cm.

I also know the displacement angle of pendulum. The displacement angle A= 20 Degrees.

The length of the pendulum is L=30 cm. and the weight of the pendulum is W=10 Kg.

The pendulum oscillations dies out after say 40 cycles.

Can i calculate how much energy is lost in the pedulum during this 40 cycles?

How can i calculate the energy loss per cycle from this?

My ultimate aim is to calculate the force required to be given to the pendulum to keep it moving.


Can some one please help?

Thanks
 
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starcrossed said:
I know the initial push or force that i am giving to the pendulum. let initial force given to pendulum be 3.5 Kg force-cm.

Force times distance (F dx) is work (energy), while force times time (F dt) is impulse or momentum transfer. Push is not a recognized term for either work or momentum transfer.

Force is measured in Newtons. Sometimes a Newton is called a kilogram-force, but it does not properly connotate the correct units.

1 Newton = 1 kilogram-meter / sec2
 
Last edited:
sorry about that...my mistake,

I am actually pushing rather pulling the pendulum with 3.5 kgf force. i have a spring gauge which i am using for measurement. I lift the pendulum weighing 10 kg's to about 20 degrees. the spring gauge reads 3.5 kg. then i release the pendulum.

The time for one oscillation is about 1.4 seconds. the pendulum comes to rest in about 30 oscillations. the total time taken for it to come to rest is say around 40 seconds.

i am interested in find the amount of force that must be supplied to pendulum to keep it in motion.
 
can some one please help?
 
Kindly see the attached pdf. My attempt to solve it, is in it. I'm wondering if my solution is right. My idea is this: At any point of time, the ball may be assumed to be at an incline which is at an angle of θ(kindly see both the pics in the pdf file). The value of θ will continuously change and so will the value of friction. I'm not able to figure out, why my solution is wrong, if it is wrong .
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...

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