Uploaded June 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Two identical pendulums, suspended on low-friction knife-edge pivots, are magnetically coupled by repelling fields—same-polarity magnets face each other across the gap. As they oscillate, energy transfers between them in three distinct modes:
00:01 Beat Point: One pendulum rests while the other reaches peak amplitude
00:32 In-Phase: Both swing together in the same direction
00:46 Out-of-Phase: Pendulums move in opposite directions
00:59 Beat Point returns
The beat frequency—about 5 cycles per minute—emerges from the difference between in-phase and out-of-phase oscillation rates. This dynamic exchange illustrates resonance and energy transfer in coupled systems.
Watch a curated collection of pendulums—some gracefully exchange energy, others dive into chaotic motion—in this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCbYhDNjOviFM5R3bQdxGR2tT25IJBWiE
#CoupledOscillators #energytransfer #beatmode #physicswithlego
Two identical pendulums, suspended on low-friction knife-edge pivots, are magnetically coupled by repelling fields—same-polarity magnets face each other across the gap. As they oscillate, energy transfers between them in three distinct modes:
00:01 Beat Point: One pendulum rests while the other reaches peak amplitude
00:32 In-Phase: Both swing together in the same direction
00:46 Out-of-Phase: Pendulums move in opposite directions
00:59 Beat Point returns
The beat frequency—about 5 cycles per minute—emerges from the difference between in-phase and out-of-phase oscillation rates. This dynamic exchange illustrates resonance and energy transfer in coupled systems.
Watch a curated collection of pendulums—some gracefully exchange energy, others dive into chaotic motion—in this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCbYhDNjOviFM5R3bQdxGR2tT25IJBWiE
#CoupledOscillators #energytransfer #beatmode #physicswithlego
