Pendulum Projectile: Find Direction of Travel Formula

[Jrlinton]

Homework Statement

This isn't a specific problem, I just wondering if there was a formula to describe the direction of travel an object would take if it was part of a pendulum and the string broke.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

Seeing that if the string broke in the instant that the object was in its most downward position it would be released at an angle parallel to the horizontal and of it broke when the object was exactly 90 degrees from the resting position, it would travel straight up/down depending on where it was in its period, I would think that the direction of travel would be the tangent of the curve at that position? Is there is simplified equation for this?

 

[Bystander]

would be released at an angle parallel to the horizontal and of it broke when the object was exactly 90 degrees from the resting position, it would travel straight up/down

You've got the hard part; the rest is ballistics.

 

[Jrlinton]

Okay I guess what I'm confused about is how to find the angle of the tangent line in relation to the axes in a situation like a pendulum where the axes are dictated by gravity. So how would one find the angle of a tangent line and the origin as it relates to the position of the bob in motion.

 

[Jrlinton]

So in other words the angle of the velocity and the horizontal.

 

[Bystander]

how would one find the angle of a tangent line

Is there a difference between the geometry of a pendulum and that of a circle?

 

[Jrlinton]

I understand that. I guess my knowledge of circles is sub par. After drawing it up and unconfindently using what I could recall from geometry I figured the angle was equal to that of the angle between the position of the bob to the vertical?

 

[Bystander]

How about "perpendicular to the radius?"

 

[lychette]

Is there a difference between the geometry of a pendulum and that of a circle?

The path of a simple pendulum is not a circle

 

[Bystander]

The path of a simple pendulum is not a circle