Double pendulum 1

Double pendulum
In mathematics, in the area of dynamical systems, a double pendulum
is a pendulum with another pendulum attached to its end, and is a
simple physical system that exhibits rich dynamic behavior with a
strong sensitivity to initial conditions. The motion of a double
pendulum is governed by a set of coupled ordinary differential
equations. For certain energies its motion is chaotic.

Analysis
Several variants of the double pendulum may be considered; the two
limbs may be of equal or unequal lengths and masses, they may be
simple pendulums or compound pendulums (also called complex
pendulums) and the motion may be in three dimensions or restricted to
the vertical plane. In the following analysis, the limbs are taken to be
identical compound pendulums of length and mass , and the
motion is restricted to two dimensions. A double pendulum consists of two pendulums
attached end to end.

Double compound pendulum.

In a compound pendulum, the mass is distributed along its length. If the mass is evenly distributed, then the centre of
mass of each limb is at its midpoint, and the limb has a moment of inertia of about that point.
It is convenient to use the angle between each limb and the vertical as the generalized coordinates defining the
configuration of the system. These angles are denoted θ1 and θ2. The position of the centre of mass of each rod may
be written in terms of these two coordinates. If the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system is taken to be at the
point of suspension of the first pendulum, then the centre of mass of this pendulum is at:

and the centre of mass of the second pendulum is at

Double pendulum 2

This is enough information to write out the Lagrangian.

Lagrangian
The Lagrangian is

The first term is the linear kinetic energy of the center of mass of the bodies and the second term is the rotational
kinetic energy around the center of mass of each rod. The last term is the potential energy of the bodies in a uniform
gravitational field. The dot-notation indicates the time derivative of the variable in question.
Substituting the coordinates above and rearranging the equation gives

There is only one conserved quantity (the energy), and no

conserved momenta. The two momenta may be written as

Motion of the double compound pendulum

(from numerical integration of the equations of
motion)

Long exposure of double pendulum exhibiting chaotic

motion (tracked with an LED)
Double pendulum 3

and

These expressions may be inverted to get

and

The remaining equations of motion are written as

and

These last four equations are explicit formulae for the time evolution of the system given its current state. It is not
possible to go further and integrate these equations analytically, to get formulae for θ1 and θ2 as functions of time. It
is however possible to perform this integration numerically using the Runge Kutta method or similar techniques.

Chaotic motion

Graph of the time for the pendulum to flip over as

a function of initial conditions

The double pendulum undergoes chaotic motion, and shows a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. The image
to the right shows the amount of elapsed time before the pendulum "flips over," as a function of initial conditions.
Here, the initial value of θ1 ranges along the x-direction, from −3 to 3. The initial value θ2 ranges along the
y-direction, from −3 to 3. The colour of each pixel indicates whether either pendulum flips within (green),

within (red), (purple) or (blue). Initial conditions that don't lead to a flip

within are plotted white.

The boundary of the central white region is defined in part by energy conservation with the following curve:

Within the region defined by this curve, that is if

Double pendulum 4

then it is energetically impossible for either pendulum to flip. Outside this region, the pendulum can flip, but it is a
complex question to determine when it will flip.
The lack of a natural excitation frequency has led to the use of double pendulum systems in seismic resistance
designs in buildings, where the building itself is the primary inverted pendulum, and a secondary mass is connected
to complete the double pendulum.

References
• Meirovitch, Leonard (1986). Elements of Vibration Analysis (2nd edition ed.). McGraw-Hill
Science/Engineering/Math. ISBN 0-07-041342-8.
• Eric W. Weisstein, Double pendulum [1] (2005), ScienceWorld (contains details of the complicated equations
involved) and "Double Pendulum [2]" by Rob Morris, Wolfram Demonstrations Project, 2007 (animations of those
equations).
• Peter Lynch, Double Pendulum [3], (2001). (Java applet simulation.)
• Northwestern University, Double Pendulum [4], (Java applet simulation.)
• Theoretical High-Energy Astrophysics Group at UBC, Double pendulum [5], (2005).

External links
• Animations and explanations of a double pendulum [6] and a physical double pendulum (two square plates) [7] by
Mike Wheatland (Univ. Sydney)
• Video [8] of a double square pendulum with three (almost) identical starting conditions.
• Double pendulum physics simulation from www.myphysicslab.com [9]
• Simulation, equations and explanation of Rott's pendulum [10]
• Comparison videos of a double pendulum with the same initial starting conditions on YouTube [11]
• Double Pendulum Simulator [12] - An open source simulator written in C++ using the Qt tookit.
• Online Java simulator [13] of the Imaginary exhbibition.

References
[1] http:/ / scienceworld. wolfram. com/ physics/ DoublePendulum. html
[2] http:/ / demonstrations. wolfram. com/ DoublePendulum/
[3] http:/ / www. maths. tcd. ie/ ~plynch/ SwingingSpring/ doublependulum. html
[4] http:/ / www. physics. northwestern. edu/ vpl/ mechanics/ pendulum. html
[5] http:/ / tabitha. phas. ubc. ca/ wiki/ index. php/ Double_pendulum
[6] http:/ / www. physics. usyd. edu. au/ ~wheat/ dpend_html/
[7] http:/ / www. physics. usyd. edu. au/ ~wheat/ sdpend/
[8] http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=Uzlccwt5SKc& NR=1
[9] http:/ / www. myphysicslab. com/ dbl_pendulum. html
[10] http:/ / www. chris-j. co. uk/ rott. php
[11] http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=O2ySvbL3-yA
[12] http:/ / freddie. witherden. org/ tools/ doublependulum/
[13] http:/ / www. imaginary2008. de/ cinderella/ english/ G2. html
Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and Contributors

Double pendulum  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=432217825  Contributors: 19.7, Acdx, Alias Flood, Andres, ArnoldReinhold, Berland, Brad, Brian0918, Bvanderveen,
CALR, Caltas, Catslash, Cburnett, Cdfurman, Chetvorno, Chopchopwhitey, Cimon Avaro, CommonsDelinker, Conscious, Doradus, Grendelkhan, Hughhunt, Iridescent, JabberWok, Jag123,
Jim.belk, Jimp, Jonnymbarnes, Jsheyl, K-UNIT, Kate, KlappCK, Linas, LittleDan, LokiClock, MSGJ, Mcl-liam, Michael Hardy, MrOllie, Nburoojy, Nillerdk, Ninly, Oleg Alexandrov, Peter R
Hastings, Phatmonkey, Physicistjedi, Pleasantville, Pt, Quadell, Rbeas, Rememberway, RogueNinja, Samersharife, Sangwinc, Scot.parker, Scottiebumich, SpectrumAnalyser, Sputnik1882,
Sverdrup, The Thing That Should Not Be, Themfromspace, Thurth, Timb66, Tom harrison, Ummit, Why My Fleece?, Wolfkeeper, XaosBits, Xenvir, Zakholdsworth, 77 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Image:Double-Pendulum.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Double-Pendulum.svg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: User JabberWok on
en.wikipedia
Image:Double-compound-pendulum-dimensioned.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Double-compound-pendulum-dimensioned.svg  License: Public Domain
 Contributors: Catslash
Image:double-compound-pendulum.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Double-compound-pendulum.gif  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Catslash
Image:DPLE.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DPLE.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  Contributors: George Ioannidis
Image:Double_pendulum_flips_graph.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Double_pendulum_flips_graph.png  License: GNU Free Documentation License
 Contributors: Catslash, Darapti, Derlay, Incnis Mrsi, Maksim, Manishearth, Patrick, Petrb, 2 anonymous edits

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/