4 Oscillation Problems T.17 § 17. The Cycloidal Pendulum pendulem watchmaker of all ime. Ita purpose is to eliminate the lack of isochronism of the ordinary simple pendulum. This is achieved by making the mass eye all tee how this motion oan be realized in practice. ‘The parametric representation of a common cycloid is z=a(¢—sin 4), (1) o y=a(1— cos ¢). ‘The paramoter ¢ is the anglo through which a wheel of radius a rolling on the horizontal z-axis has turned from its initial position. The common oycloid is generated by a point on the periphery of the wheel (Fig. 26). Leter on we er pew ‘Fro. 26, Generation of common cycloid by point on the periphery of a rolling wheel. Definition of angle of rotation ¢. For our pendulum we need « oycloid that has its cusps at the top rather than on the bottom (cf. Hig. 27 on p. 96); this is generated by having our wheel roll on the underside of the z-axis, The # of such a curve is that given in (1) while its y is obtained by subtracting the y given in (1) from 2a, e) a=a(d—sin ¢), y=a(1+0s 4). The component of gravity mg along the tangent of the trajectory (in our case the cycloid) is Fy=—mg cos (y, a=—mgZ. ‘The general relation (11.14) therefore yields @) mira — mg, ‘where, just as in the case of the circular pendulum, the mass m cancels on + Horologium Oscillatorium, Paris (1673). Collected Works, Vol. 18, The Hague (1934).q The Oycloidel Pondulam 2 R the left and right. Differentiation of (2) gives de=a(l— cos $)d$, dy=—asin $ dp. dst=a'(2—2 008 4)dg2, dse=2asin Bag. ‘Thus in our case 7) v= Z=2 asin $840 F 008 & and a (6) lea — af. If we replace (4) and (6) in (3), we obtain (6) qos =— Lost: This equation differs from Eq. (16.3) of the simple pendulum only in that the dependent variable is now called cos $ rather than g. This is of course of no consequence for the integration of (8). The earlier Eq. (15.4) there- al. (2) “patel with l=4a, the latter because in (8) 4a took the place of our former I. Tig. (16.8) described only the small displicements of a simple pendulum and was obtained from the exact relation (16.1) by an approximation; our present equation (6) and Eq. (7) resulting from an integration thereof are, on the other hand, exact for oscillations of arbitrary amplitude. The cycloidal pendulum is then rigorously isochronous; its periodic time is completely independent of the amplitude of oscillation.* ‘As regards the method used, we notico that in (8) the motion of our Particle was represented not by its Cartesian coordinates or by some para~ meter bearing an immediate relation to the cycloidal curve, but by one half the angle of rotation $ of the whed generating the eycloid. We soe that *? The ogsloid oan also be oalled tautoshrone (oscillations on a oyoloid are * ioshronous onder to traverse the distance between two given endpoints in the least possible time t”” It turns out thet the mass takes less time on a cycloid than on a straight line or any other curve joining the same points). The brachistochrone problem is all the more notable because it was for it that the first principles of the Csleulus of Variations were developed.98 Oscillation Problema mms this parameter, although only indirectly connected with the oycloid, provides the simplest method of approach to the problem. Its introduction gives us a foretaste of the general Lagrange method of Chapter VI, which onablos us to introduce arbitrary parameters as dependent variables in the equations of motion. Just as remarkable as Huygens’ discovery of the isochronism of the cycloidal pendulum is the way in which he actually achieved the frictionless motion of the bob on the cycloid. “He availed himself of the rule that the of a oycloid therefore, we tie 8 string of length j=4a to the point O of Fig. 27 in which the two upper oycloid aros form a cusp, and if this string be pulled taut so that it rests against the right part of the eycloid (or the left part if deflected to the left), the endpoint P of. the string desoribes the lower cycloidl arc, The guiding of the bob along the lower oycloid effected in this manner is almost as friction. less a8 the guiding of the simple pendulum along « circular are. Actually Huygens’ idea has been abandoned in the practice of pendu- 1 investigations of Bessel among others it is sufficient to install a spring — usually a short clastic lamina — st the upper end of the pendulum. If the length of the lamina and the mass of the bob are suitably chosen, a sufficient degree of isochronism is achieved. § 18. The Spherical Pendulum We require the pendulum to be suspended in such a fashion that the mass point m is able to move freely on the surface of a sphere of radius 1 (the length of the pendulum). It is then subject to the condition of constraint ‘Fro. 27. Huygens’ isochronous oy: cloidal pendulum. WeTFTE-P)= 0, where the factor 2 has been added for convenience’s sake, ‘Here r, the number of conditions of constraint, equals 1, and X;=X,=0, mg, 8 that the Lagrange equations of the first kind (12.9) take the Xs form @)