Double pendulum

(0, 0)

L1

(x1,y1)

mg

(x2,y2)

mg

m1
2

L2

Double compound pendulum

of mass of each limb is at its midpoint, and the limb has

1
a moment of inertia of I = 12
m2 about that point.

m2

It is convenient to use the angles between each limb and

the vertical as the generalized coordinates dening the
conguration of the system. These angles are denoted 1
A double pendulum consists of two pendulums attached end to
and 2 . The position of the center of mass of each rod
end.
may be written in terms of these two coordinates. If the
origin of the Cartesian coordinate system is taken to be
In physics and mathematics, in the area of dynamical sysat the point of suspension of the rst pendulum, then the
tems, a double pendulum is a pendulum with another
center of mass of this pendulum is at:
pendulum attached to its end, and is a simple physical
system that exhibits rich dynamic behavior with a strong
sensitivity to initial conditions.[1] The motion of a dou
ble pendulum is governed by a set of coupled ordinary x1 = sin 1 ,
2
dierential equations. For certain energies its motion is

chaotic.
y1 = cos 1
2
and the center of mass of the second pendulum is at

Analysis and interpretation

(
)
1
x2 = sin 1 + sin 2 ,
2
)
(
1
y2 = cos 1 + cos 2 .
2

Several variants of the double pendulum may be considered; the two limbs may be of equal or unequal lengths
and masses, they may be simple pendulums or compound
pendulums (also called complex pendulums) and the motion may be in three dimensions or restricted to the vertical plane. In the following analysis, the limbs are taken to This is enough information to write out the Lagrangian.
be identical compound pendulums of length and mass
m , and the motion is restricted to two dimensions.

1.1 Lagrangian

In a compound pendulum, the mass is distributed along its

length. If the mass is evenly distributed, then the center The Lagrangian is
1

2 CHAOTIC MOTION

]
[
L
1
L = Kinetic Energy Potential Energy
p1 =
= m2 81 + 32 cos(1 2 )
)
6
1
) 1 (
1 (
= m v12 + v22 + I 12 + 22 mg (y1 + y2 )
2
2
and
)
) 1 ( 2
1 ( 2
2
2
2
2

= m x 1 + y 1 + x 2 + y 2 + I 1 + 2 mg (y1 + y2 )
2
2
[
]
L
1
= m2 22 + 31 cos(1 2 ) .
The rst term is the linear kinetic energy of the center p2 =
6
2
of mass of the bodies and the second term is the rotational kinetic energy around the center of mass of each These expressions may be inverted to get
rod. The last term is the potential energy of the bodies in
a uniform gravitational eld. The dot-notation indicates
6 2p1 3 cos(1 2 )p2
the time derivative of the variable in question.
1 =
2
m
16 9 cos2 (1 2 )
Substituting the coordinates above and rearranging the
equation gives

L=

and

] 1
1 2 [ 2
6 8p 3 cos(1 2 )p1
m 2 + 412 + 31 2 cos(1 2 ) + mg (3 cos
1 + cos 2 )2.
2 =
.
6
2
m2 16 9 cos2 (1 2 )

There is only one conserved quantity (the energy), and no The remaining equations of motion are written as

p1 =

[
]
L
1
g
= m2 1 2 sin(1 2 ) + 3 sin 1
1
2

and

p2 =

Motion of the double compound pendulum (from numerical integration of the equations of motion)

[
]
L
1
g
= m2 1 2 sin(1 2 ) + sin 2 .
2
2

These last four equations are explicit formulae for the

time evolution of the system given its current state. It
is not possible to go further and integrate these equations
analytically, to get formulae for 1 and 2 as functions
of time. It is however possible to perform this integration numerically using the Runge Kutta method or similar
techniques.

2 Chaotic motion

Long exposure of double pendulum exhibiting chaotic motion

(tracked with an LED)

The double pendulum undergoes chaotic motion, and

shows a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. The
image to the right shows the amount of elapsed time before the pendulum ips over, as a function of initial conditions. Here, the initial value of 1 ranges along the xdirection, from 3 to 3. The initial value 2 ranges along
the y-direction, from 3 to 3. (Presumably, this exposition is describing a stationary release with kinetic terms at
zero.) The colour of each
either
pixel indicates whether
/g
(green),
within
100
/g
pendulum ips
within
10

(red), 1000 /g (purple) or 10000 /g (blue).

Initial

conditions that don't lead to a ip within 10000 /g are

plotted white.

conserved momenta. The two momenta may be written The boundary of the central white region is dened in part
as
by energy conservation with the following curve:

4 Notes
[1] Levien RB and Tan SM. Double Pendulum: An experiment in chaos.American Journal of Physics 1993; 61 (11):
1038
[2] Alex Small, Sample Final Project: One Signature of Chaos
in the Double Pendulum, (2013). A report produced as an
example for students. Includes a derivation of the equations of motion, and a comparison between the double
pendulum with 2 point masses and the double pendulum
with 2 rods.

5 References
Meirovitch, Leonard (1986). Elements of Vibration Analysis (2nd edition ed.). McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math. ISBN 0-07-041342-8.
Graph of the time for the pendulum to ip over as a function of
initial conditions

3 cos 1 + cos 2 = 2.
Within the region dened by this curve, that is if

Eric W. Weisstein, Double pendulum (2005), ScienceWorld (contains details of the complicated equations involved) and "Double Pendulum" by Rob
Morris, Wolfram Demonstrations Project, 2007 (animations of those equations).
Peter Lynch, Double Pendulum, (2001). (Java applet simulation.)
Northwestern University, Double Pendulum, (Java
applet simulation.)

3 cos 1 + cos 2 > 2,

then it is energetically impossible for either pendulum to
ip. Outside this region, the pendulum can ip, but it is a
complex question to determine when it will ip. Similar
behavior is observed for a double pendulum composed of
two point masses rather than two rods with distributed
mass.[2]
The lack of a natural excitation frequency has led to the
use of double pendulum systems in seismic resistance designs in buildings, where the building itself is the primary
inverted pendulum, and a secondary mass is connected to
complete the double pendulum.

See also
Double inverted pendulum
Pendulum (mathematics)
Mid-20th century physics textbooks use the term
Double Pendulum to mean a single bob suspended
from a string which is in turn suspended from a
V-shaped string. This type of pendulum, which
produces Lissajous curves, is now referred to as a
Blackburn pendulum.

Theoretical High-Energy Astrophysics Group at

UBC, Double pendulum, (2005).

6 External links
Animations and explanations of a double pendulum
and a physical double pendulum (two square plates)
by Mike Wheatland (Univ. Sydney)
Double pendulum physics simulation from www.
myphysicslab.com
Simulation, equations and explanation of Rotts pendulum
Comparison videos of a double pendulum with the
same initial starting conditions on YouTube
Double Pendulum Simulator - An open source simulator written in C++ using the Qt toolkit.
Online Java simulator of the Imaginary exhibition.

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Double pendulum Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double%20pendulum?oldid=632336469 Contributors: Michael Hardy, LittleDan,

Andres, Cimon Avaro, Doradus, Grendelkhan, Chopchopwhitey, Sverdrup, Wolfkeeper, Tom harrison, MSGJ, Zeimusu, Quadell, Kate,
CALR, ArnoldReinhold, Bender235, Brian0918, Pt, Jag123, Physicistjedi, Cburnett, Oleg Alexandrov, Linas, XaosBits, Rbeas, Phatmonkey, Jimp, Conscious, JabberWok, Bvanderveen, Scs, Zwobot, Ninly, Alias Flood, SmackBot, K-UNIT, Jsheyl, Berland, Nillerdk,
Acdx, Jim.belk, Peter R Hastings, Iridescent, Scottiebumich, Chetvorno, MaxEnt, AndrewDressel, Why My Fleece?, RogueNinja, Sangwinc, Hughhunt, Catslash, Scot.parker, CommonsDelinker, Zakholdsworth, Brad, Funandtrvl, Pleasantville, LokiClock, Thurth, Cdfurman,
Mcl-liam, Nburoojy, Timb66, Caltas, SpectrumAnalyser, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Paul wainwright photography, Addbot,
MrOllie, Themfromspace, Samersharife, KamikazeBot, Citation bot, Pinethicket, Jonnymbarnes, Xenvir, IncognitoErgoSum, ZroBot,
Rememberway, KlappCK, Sputnik1882, Rezabot, Richardjb25, Blackberry Sorbet, Vanished user lt94ma34le12, Tychokysong, Arsmall,
Daniel Hardcastle, AndyMth and Anonymous: 59

7.2

Images

File:DPLE.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/DPLE.jpg License: CC-BY-3.0 Contributors: Own work

Original artist: George Ioannidis
File:Double-Pendulum.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Double-Pendulum.svg License: CC-BY-SA3.0 Contributors:
Original artist: User JabberWok on en.wikipedia
File:Double-compound-pendulum-dimensioned.svg
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/
Double-compound-pendulum-dimensioned.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Catslash
File:Double-compound-pendulum.gif Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Double-compound-pendulum.
gif License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Catslash
File:Double_pendulum_flips_graph.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Double_pendulum_flips_
graph.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Text_document_
with_red_question_mark.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Created by bdesham with Inkscape; based upon Text-x-generic.svg
from the Tango project. Original artist: Benjamin D. Esham (bdesham)

7.3

Content license

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