Naval Construction Wing, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ENGINEERING MECHANICS AND MATHEMATICS

AML701

DOUBLE
PENDULUM

SLT VIPINLAL MP 2019AMX5510

SLT OMKAR SAWANT 2019AMX5511
SLT SHRUTI CHATURVEDI 2019AMX5515
SLT AKANISTHA BANERJEE 2019AMX5519
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CONTENTS

Non-Linear Dynamics .......................................................................................................................... 2

The Double Pendulum Experiment ..................................................................................................... 5
Theory .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Setup ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Results ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Chaos in Double Pendulum ................................................................................................................. 9
Applications ...................................................................................................................................... 11
References ........................................................................................................................................ 12
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NON-LINEAR DYANMICS

Introduction
Non Linear Dynamics is the study of systems governed by equations in which
a small change in one variable leads to a very high change in the other variables. This
is also known as chaos. This kind of dynamics is highly dependent on the initial
conditions in a way that a small deviation from a decided initial condition would
result in a complete different outcomes. This is also known as butterfly effect. These
chaotic systems seem to be totally unpredictable yet their behavior is not random
This “not random” behavior is attributed to the repeated patterns which the
plots of nonlinear motion vs time exhibit. This opens a whole new possibility to
predict important parameters like weather, population, etc. One such chaotic
motion is the motion of a double pendulum, which is the only nonlinear motion
which has been solved.
The double pendulum is just one extra bob attached to another by a string
which in turn is suspended. Again it is seen that at small initial angles the double
pendulum behaves like a normal single pendulum. But as you go on increasing the
initial angle the motion starts becoming more and more chaotic. There are more
than one positions of equilibrium observed in this system. This kind motion can also
be seen in double trailing transport trucks when out of control.

Classifying Differential Equations

Partial vs Ordinary

An ordinary differential equation (or ODE) has a discrete (finite) set of

variables. For example in the simple pendulum there are two variables: angle and
angular velocity.
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A partial differential equation (or PDE) has an infinite set of variables which
correspond to all the positions on a line or a surface or a region of space. For example
in the string simulation we have a continuous set of variables along the string
corresponding to the displacement of the string at each position. In practice we
approximate the infinite set of variables with a finite set of variables spread across
the string (or surface or volume) at each position.
For an ODE, each variable has a distinct differential equation using "ordinary"
derivatives. For a PDE, there is only one "partial" differential equation for each
dimension.

First Order vs Second Order

The order of a differential equation is equal to the highest derivative in the
equation. The single-quote indicates differention. So x' is a first derivative, while x''
is a second derivative.

x' = 1/x is first-order

x'' = −x is second-order

x'' + 2 x' + x = 0 is second-order

Linear vs Non-Linear
Linear just means that the variable in an equation appears only with a power
of one. So x is linear but x2 is non-linear. Also any function like cos(x) is non-linear.
In math and physics, linear generally means "simple" and non-linear means
"complicated". The theory for solving linear equations is very well developed
because linear equations are simple enough to be solveable. Non-linear equations
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can usually not be solved exactly and are the subject of much on-going research.

x'' + x = 0 is linear

x'' + 2x' + x = 0 is linear

x' + 1/x = 0 is non-linear because 1/x is not a first power

x' + x2 = 0 is non-linear because x2 is not a first power

x'' + sin(x) = 0 is non-linear because sin(x) is not a first power

x x' = 1 is non-linear because x' is not multiplied by a constant

However, that an exception is made for the time variable t (the variable that we are
differentiating by). We can have any crazy non-linear function of t appear in the
equation, but still have an equation that is linear in x .

x'' + 2 x' + x = sin(t) is linear in x

x' + t2x = 0 is linear in x

sin(t) x' + cos(t) x = exp(t) is linear in x

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THEORY
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SETUP

Figure 1: The Experimental Setup

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RESULTS

Tracker software was used for modellingSETUP

and finding out the plots and data for the
setup.

For mass m1

Figure 2: Plot of mass 1

We see from this plot that the motion is fairly regular and in simple harmonic motion
according to the predictions. The amplitudes keep on slightly decreasing as there
were no continuous forced vibrations.
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For mass m2.

Figure 3: Plot of mass 2

This plot is starkly different from that of m1. The motion is chaotic and mostly
unpredictable. In spite of the deficiencies of the software and crude experimentation
the inferences that this is chaotic is obvious. Although, some pattern seem to be
visible but it does not extend to its entirety and in general a randomness is associated
with this.
The next section would describe in some detail the physics behind these
observations.
CHAOS IN DOUBLE 9

PENDULUM

High Sensitivity to Initial Conditions

Chaotic dynamics, means that a system is extremely sensitive to initial conditions. That
means a small change in where the system begins, becomes a big difference in where it
ends up. It is generally believed that chaos means that we can’t predict what the system
will do, and this is not exactly true. Chaotic systems, including the double pendulum
system, can be deterministic. This means that if we know it’s initial conditions, and can
integrate it forward in time with infinite precision, we could predict its motion out
arbitrarily into the future.

Figure 4: Chaotic motion in double pendulum

Unfortunately, in the real world, there’s always some measurement error in

determining the initial conditions and computers only have finite precision. This means
that in reality we often can’t predict chaotic systems out arbitrarily into the future.
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The Small Angle Aproximation

This is a Lissajous figure, made by releasing sand from a container at the end
of a double pendulum.

Figure 5: Lissajous figure

This motion is highly regular and structured. The small angle

approximation means that when θ1 and θ2 are small, we can approximate their sin(
) and cos( ) as θ and 1 respectively. Additionally, because their momenta will be small
(less than 1), the product of their momenta will be very small and can be ignored. this
converts the nonlinear systems of equations into a nice set of linear ones. So much so
this is almost like the system of equations for two masses connected by a spring.

Consider the initial angles be approximately equal to 40 degrees. This is outside

the range of where the small angle approximation holds, but the small angle
approximation isn’t binary. It doesn’t stop working after a certain angle. It slowly gets
worse, and that’s what we see here. Instead of the nice rectangular Lissajous curve,
we now get a Lissajous curve that’s been stretched and bent. It’s easy to see our
trajectory is still bounded, but we have a much more complex nonlinear shape.

Increasing the initial angles to be much larger than the small angle
approximation bounds. We see the nonlinear dynamics in full effect with its wild
trajectory.
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APPLICATIONS

1. Electrical and Electronic Circuits

This is a field in which rich chaotic phenomena have been reported. One of the
reasons is because a variety of reliable nonlinear elements are readily available in
electrical and electronic circuits. Periodic forcing with an A.C. power source is
common in circuits, which provides a variety of examples for driven chaos in non-
autonomous systems. The ubiquity of chaos in circuits conversely implies that
chaotic dynamics of mathematical models may be implemented in real-world
systems by these circuits beyond computer simulations toward possible
applications.
2. Data control systems
Characteristics of deterministic chaos are greatly affecting basic concepts of
engineering such as prediction, control, computation, information, and
optimization.
3. Series
One of very promising areas is nonlinear time series analysis on complex time
series data from real-world systems. Examples of such time series analysis include
predictive models derived directly from observed data such as time series of
temperature in the iron-making blast furnace , daily peak loads in electric power
grids.
4. Household appliances
Similar to what happens in conservative pendulum systems where a single
pendulum behaves periodically but a double pendulum does chaotically. Chaotic
loci of water jet holes in the two-link dishwasher cover homogeneously a wider
area and achieve better washing performance than do periodic ones in the
conventional one-link dishwasher.
5. Chaotic Neural Networks
The nonlinear dynamics in biological neurons generates and propagates action
potentials.
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REFERENCES

[1] Strogatz, Steven H. Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics,
Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Pub, 1994. Print.

[2] Dominic Jordan and Peter Smith. Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations. An
introduction for Scientists and Engineers Fourth Edition, 2007. Oxford University Press.

[3] R.B.Levein and S.M.Tan. Double pendulum: An experiment in chaos. Article in

American Journal of Physics · January 1993. DOI: 10.1119/1.17335.