Reference: M142
Category: Mechanics
Purpose: An unusual pendulum.
Description: Two masses are connected by a piece of string. The string passes through a pulley inside a pyramidal wooden frame so that one mass hangs outside the frame and the other inside, straight down. The mass outside is set spinning while the other is left to hang. Assuming negligible friction (witch is reasonable since Teflon is used for the string), the angle at which the spinning mass is elevated from the horizontal is fixed for a given pair of masses. By pulling the vertical mass downwards its mass is effectively increased and the angle of the spinning mass approaches 90 degrees.
