Three magnets, one swinging bob, and pure chaos. Which magnet it settles on depends so delicately on where it starts that the map of outcomes is a fractal.
Magnetic PendulumLive
chaotic attraction · fractal basins
Controls
A pendulum bob is pulled toward three magnets. Which one it lands on depends so sensitively on the start that the basins of attraction form a fractal. Drag a magnet to move it, or click empty space to drop the bob there.
Reading this result: Which magnet the bob settles on depends with extreme sensitivity on where it starts: neighboring drop points can end at different magnets, carving fractal basins of attraction. At friction 0.995 it settles at a moderate pace. Magnet strength 0.6 balances against the central spring.
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How it works
The bob feels a restoring pull toward center, attraction to three magnets, and friction. Because tiny changes in the starting point can flip the final magnet, the basins of attraction interleave into an infinitely detailed fractal — a beautiful, tangible demonstration of sensitive dependence on initial conditions.
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Is this magnetic pendulum chaos tool really free?▾
Yes. Magnetic Pendulum runs entirely in your browser using your device's own compute, so local use is free forever. You only pay Compute Tokens if you scale a job to the cloud.
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The solver uses established numerical methods, but results are for research and educational purposes and should be validated against experiment or professional review before you rely on them.