For Students · Pendulum Wave
Pendulum Wave for a skydiver's free fall
Built for students learning it for a class or exam. See the concept move instead of memorizing formulas — and check your homework intuition. Simulate a skydiver's free fall live below — adjust the inputs and watch it respond, right in your browser.
Pendulum WaveLive
phase art from many periods
Controls
A row of pendulums with slightly different lengths. They drift in and out of phase, weaving traveling waves, then briefly snap back into sync.
Presets
Data Inspector
Pendulums18
Slowest period2.00 s
Fastest period0.61 s
Effectphase waves
Governing equation
Reading this result: Each of the 18 pendulums is set to a slightly different length, so its period drifts from the slowest (~2.00s, 30 swings per cycle) to the fastest (~0.61s, 98 swings per cycle). With a period spread of 4, the phases fan out into a traveling wave, dissolve into a chaos-looking scramble, and then all re-sync at the common 60-unit cycle before repeating. Wider spread reaches the disordered stage sooner; more pendulums makes the wave smoother.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is this good for students?
- Yes — this version of "Pendulum Wave for a skydiver's free fall" is framed for students learning it for a class or exam. See the concept move instead of memorizing formulas — and check your homework intuition.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. It runs in any modern browser, free, with no account required.