Technical Notes
What are Pendulum Waves
A pendulum wave is a series of pendulums having successively longer swing frequencies that, when simultaneously set in motion, produce the effect of a changing transverse wave that cycles back to the starting condition, then successively repeats. For a technical explanation of why the wave patterns appear as they do, see here and for the physics and math of how the pendulums lengths are calculated, see here.
Lollipop Pendulum Model
The tinted plastic lollipops are pivoted on small ball bearings, and can be tuned to swing as slowly as desired. Each is tuned by twisting a small weight on a vertically oriented screw located below the pivot, barely visible in the video.
Ring and Disc Pendulum Models
Like the Migration model, the elements in the ring and disc models each hang from two strings. But unlike the Migration model, the ring and disc elements swing side to side, parallel to the plane of the strings rather than perpendicular. Perpendicular swinging is the common stable arrangement. Parallel swinging is unstable, requiring the avoidance of things
Migration Pendulum Wave Design
For the Migration model shown on the home page, the repeat time is 45 seconds. Over the course of that 45 seconds, the topmost of the twelve elements swings 58 times; the next one down swings 57 times, the next 56 times, and so on down to the bottommost 47 times.The elements are made from