Swing Lab is an educational app about learning simple gravity PENDULUM and mechanical RESONANCE on iPad/iPhone. The key feature of this app is the WAVEFORMS monitor that makes sure all the movements are captured and drawn into form of graphics lively. We can see how to use graphic and math language to abstract physical activities and find out the key to understand it.
In Swing Lab, imaging the touch-screen can absorb our interacts: try to move repeatedly back and forth on the screen for creating outer oscillations to interact with the pendulum (neednt touch the pendulum itself)… will pendulum response at resonance, or we just make it harder to swing higher? Live waveforms will monitor all these into form of graphics so we can intuitively find out why.
Pendulum, the reason it can swing back and forth regularly is that its a system keep converting between Potential energy and Kinetic energy. the higher position of the bob, gains the greatest Potential energy. when we release the bob, its accelerated by gravity and the position getting lower and lower, in this while the Potential energy is converted into Kinetic energy. When it reaches the bottom position the Kinetic energy becomes max which keeps it have enough energy to move back to higher position…… continues and keeps it swing.
This app also simulate two environments: the idealized mode and the real world mode. In idealized mode we neednt care about the friction nor the air drag, the Potential energy and Kinetic energy can convert 100% without loss. But in the real mode, you can see how the friction effects.
Use this app to know the secret of these basic physical phenomenon.
~ What decides the swing time period most? The length of the rope? Or the higher the bob to be when started?
~ When the pendulum response at resonance by your interacts, does the period change?
~ besides pushing the "Stop" Button, any other quick way to make the swing stop?
Try it yourself!