Effect of Nearby Mountain on an Ideal Pendulum

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 1K views
bob012345
Gold Member
Messages
2,426
Reaction score
1,113
Suppose there is a very large mountain adjacent to a pendulum such that there is a horizontal component gravitational force of ##10^{-5}g## acting on the otherwise ideal pendulum. How would one use a perturbation to add that effect to first order?

My initial thought would be to figure an angle that made the total gravitational acceleration ##g(-1z+10^{−5}x)## operating around a symmetric axis and which gives an ideal pendulum and then transform the coordinates?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
If you are only looking for a 1st order approximation, treat it as a 1g pendulum with the center of the swing displaced 10^-5 A were A is the length of the pendulum arm.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71 and bob012345