Divide by Zero Error: Solving Pendulum Radius

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on solving a divide by zero error encountered while calculating the radius of a pendulum using acceleration data in Python. The user attempts to compute the radius by dividing the square of the tangential velocity by the radial acceleration. However, this results in large peaks in the graph at the extremes of the pendulum's swing due to near-zero values in both tangential velocity and radial acceleration. A suggested solution is to filter the data to utilize only those readings where the tangential velocity is maximized, although this approach has yielded mixed results across different datasets.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of pendulum motion and dynamics
  • Proficiency in Python programming
  • Familiarity with data filtering techniques
  • Knowledge of accelerometer data interpretation
NEXT STEPS
  • Implement data filtering techniques in Python to isolate significant readings
  • Explore advanced error handling methods in Python for numerical computations
  • Research pendulum dynamics to better understand acceleration components
  • Learn about data visualization libraries in Python, such as Matplotlib, for improved graphing
USEFUL FOR

Physics students, data analysts, and engineers working with pendulum systems or similar motion analysis who need to address computational errors in their data processing.

Sam Smith
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I have data from a pendulum and I am using it to work out the radius of the pendulum. I have acceleration in the x and y directions and so thought this would be easy enough. Simply I determine the (velocity in the x direction)^2/acceleration in the y direction. However when I use python to give me a graph I notice that I get a graph with a large peak at the extremes (ie where the pendulum monetarily stops at the extremes and I am therefore dividing by zero) Any way around this?
 
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By "x" and "y", one assumes that this amounts to "tangential" and "radial" for an accelerometer mounted on the pendulum. Your complaint is that at the ends of the pendulum's arc you have [near] zero tangential velocity and [near] zero radial acceleration. You suffer from a loss of significance because the error bounds on the two values are as large as the quantities themselves.

One possibility is obvious. Filter your data to use the figures where x velocity is largest.
 
Yes I took this approach taking instantaneous readings. It was correct for some data but not another set. I am hoping to cross check them now so that I can be sure I can always get these values correct
 

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