The Pendulum With Butterfly Wings

Amol Vaidya and Steven Sun

UH Department of Physics
(Dated: May 4, 2012)
Using a driven, damped pendulum we examine the properties of chaotic, multiperiodic, and
periodic motion using phase space plots and Poincare plots. In the process, the natural frequency
of the pendulum is calculated to be 9.343 radians/sec. The distance between the pendulum and
a copper ring which creates damping Eddy currents is examined. A linear relationship between
a dimensionless damping parameter and distance is extrapolated from data. We also discuss an
apparent anomaly in our data where the Poincare plot of multiperiodic motion displays one cluster
of points rather than two like it should. We propose that this is due to the natural frequency of the
pendulum being an integer multiple of the driving frequency that created the multiperiodic motion.

1.

INTRODUCTION

The colloquially termed butterfly effect alludes to

the concept that the fluttering of a butterflys wings in
some remote location can affect global weather patterns
a few weeks later. It illustrates how the time-evolution of
a system can be highly dependent on initial conditions,
and lead to unpredictable consequences. A system which
displays such sensitivity to initial conditions is termed a
chaotic system, and is associated with nonlinear systems.
Chaotic systems are difficult to study. Though they
are completely deterministic in theory, their nonlinearity
often precludes an analytical solution. Furthermore, they
are often difficult to simulate computationally since their
high sensitivity on initial conditions makes rounding error a significant problem. That said, systems that can
display chaos often have readily identifiable properties.
Furthermore, depending on its parameters, the system
can be periodic, multiperiodic, and display resonance.
One such system is the driven, damped pendulum, which
we will be studying in this paper.

will examine some of the behaviors such a pendulum can

exhibit when it is subject to different damping torques,
driving torques, and constraints on its angular motion.
If the angular displacement from the vertical is restricted to small angles without a damping or driving
torque then the behavior is simple harmonic by the small
angle approximation. However, if we add a damping
torque and a harmonic driving torque to the system, and
again restrict the angular motion of the pendulum to
small angles then the equation of motion becomes
I

d2
d
+ b + mgr = 0 sin(t),
2
dt
dt

where is the driving frequency and 0 is the amplitude of the driving torque. The funtion that solves this
differential equation is [1]
(t) = p

0 /I
(02 2 )2 + (b/I)2 2

THEORY

A pendulum can be thought of as a particle with mass

m suspended a distance r from some rotational axis.
When the pendulum is displaced from its equilibrium position then gravity acts as a restoring force. If the pendum has a linear damping term, and is driven by some
time-dependent torque then the equation of motion for
the pendulum can be given as
I

d
d2
+ b + mgr sin() = (t),
dt2
dt

(1)

where I is the total moment of inertia of the pendulum,

is the angular displacement from equilibrium, b is a
damping coefficient, g is the acceleration of gravity,
is the driving torque, and t is time. In this section we

Electronic

address: Amolvaidya06@gmail.com

sin(t ),

(3)

where 0 is the natural frequency of the system and

tan() =

2.

(2)

b/I
.
02

(4)

With these parameters, the system will display resonance

when [1]
2 = 02

(b/I)2
.
2

(5)

In this case the pendulum will oscillate at the driving

frequency with a phase shift, .
If the angular displacement of the pendulum is not
restricted to small angles, however, the pendulum will
exhibit more complicated behavior that can not be expressed analytically. Typically the angular displacement
of the pendulum becomes multiperiodic or chaotic. To
analyze such a pendulum it is useful to study the path
of the pendulum through phase space. A point in phase
space represents the state of a system, and the dimensions in phase space are angular velocity and angular
displacement. Another related and useful tool in analyzing such behaviors is the Poincare plot, which collects
one data point in phase space per drive cycle.

2
The path through phase space of a pendulum undergoing simple harmonic motion will be elliptical. This ellipse
will represent every possible state the pendulum can be
in. For a pendulum undergoing multiperiodic motion the
path through phase space will seem to oscillate between
two or more distorted ellipses. When the motion of the
pendulum is chaotic its path through phase space will
appear random, and it will not repeat its motion as it
did for periodic and multiperiodic motion.

3.

EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURE

We will collect phase space data for a pendulum undergoing periodic, multiperiodic, and chaotic motion. In
order to do this we will use a Deadalon pendulum. The
pendulum is connected to a micrometer, and consists of
a rod with a ring magnet and mass attached at the end.
The ring magnet rotates next to a copper ring. Eddy
currents from the copper ring provide a damping torque
for the pendulum. As the micrometer moves, the pendulum moves with respect to the copper ring as well. The
further it is from the copper ring, the smaller the damping torque. Finally, the pendulum is attached to a torque
converter which applies a torque on the pendulum proportional to the amount of voltage running through it.
With the equipment we are using, the input voltage for
the torque converter is related to the torque produced
by = U/(0.92volts), where U is the amplitude of an
alternating voltage. An AC power supply will run a sinusoidally oscillating voltage through the converter.
An optical detector and encoder are also inside the
pendulum apparatus. Their function is to encode phase
space data about the pendulum and send it to the computer via USB to be recorded. This data is analyzed to
determine how varying various parameters like driving
frequency, or damping affect the motion of the pendulum.
To accurately analyze this data we must first determine
various parameters and relationships inherent to the pendulum system such as its natural frequency, or how the
micrometer reading is related to the damping constant.
In order to compute the natural frequency of the pendulum it is moved as far as possible from the copper ring,
minimizing, but not entirely negating damping effects.
Furthermore, the voltage through the torque converter is
set to zero. The pendulum is manually moved through
a small angle, and 3000 phase space data points are collected on the pendulum. This process is repeated five
times to minimize error. Once this is done, the phase
space data is fit to a theoretical function using GnuPlot
to calculate the natural frequency and various other parameters regarding the pendulum. The function to which
the phase space data is fit is described in the results and
discussion section.
To compute the damping constant as a function of micrometer reading the above process is repeated, however
this time the pendulum is located at various distances

from the copper ring. Six trials are performed with the
micrometer reading eight through thirteen millimeters at
integer intervals.
Finally, the torque converter is activated. Using trial
and error on power supply settings, periodic, two multiperiodic, and chaotic behavior is observed. 37000 phase
space data points are collected for each setting. Furthermore, Poincare plots are collected for each setting.
Periodic behavior was attained using a micrometer reading of 10 mm, and power supply settings of 1.238 hz and
0.65 volts. Multiperiodic behavior was attained at a micrometer reading of 5 mm and power supply settings of
0.5 hz and 2.83 volts. Multiperiodic behavior was also
attained at a micrometer reading of 7 mm and power
supply settings of 0.4 hz and 2.11 volts. Finally, chaotic
behavior was attained at a micrometer reading of 7 mm
and power supply settings of 1.232 hz and 2.25 volts. All
power supply settings were verified with an oscilloscope.
Fourier transforms were attained for each of these, and
the Fourier spectrum was analyzed.
Finally, a Poincare plot for chaotic motion with 15,000
data points was recorded overnight. The settings used to
obtain chaotic motion for the power supply was 1.189 hz
and 2.25 volts. The micrometer read 11.75 mm.

4.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

To calculate the natural frequency with no driving

torque and minimal damping the equation of motion, (2),
reduced to
I

d
d2
+ b + mgr = 0.
2
dt
dt

(6)

The solution to this equation is [1]

= 0 et cos(1 t + )

(7)

where
=

b
2I

(8)

and
12 = 02 2 .

(9)

Data collected on the pendulums motion in this configuration was fit to Equation (7) for , 0 , and 1 . A
phase space plot could be constructed based on the data
gathered. An example of such a plot based on one set of
data is given in Figure 1. After fitting, we found the average value for to be 0.20 0.02 and 1 to be 8.94 0.02,
where the errors were given as standard deviation of the
mean for the five fitted values of each.
The analysis above is done for an infinitesimally small
initial displacement angle. However, the angular displacement used in collecting data to calculate the natural
frequency of the pendulum was finite. To correct for this

FIG. 1: A phase space plot with minimal damping and no

driving force. X axis represents angular displacement, y axis
represents angular velocity.

we can compute the period P of an infinitesimally small

displacement angle using the relation [1]
P 0 = P [(2/)K(k)],

FIG. 2: Q vs micrometer reading. Plot was approximately

linear with Q = 3.2353x 14.963, where x is the micrometer
reading. Linear fit done using excel.

(10)

where k = sin(20 /2), K(k) is an elliptical integral of

the first kind, and P is the period for a pendulum with
a finite angular displacement. All the quantities other
than K and P are known directly from our data. K can
be calculated computationally from each of our data sets,
and P can then be solved for. K was computationally
found to be 1.642 0.008, where the error is given as the
standard deviation of the mean for the computed value
of K over five trials. Using this we find P to be 0.6725
0.0002 which corresponds with an angular frequency of
9.3410.003. Reformulating Equation (9) to solve for the
natural frequency, we find 0 = 9.3430.003. The errors
in P, the natural frequency, and the damped frequecy are
found by propagation of error.
Since we dont know the exact moment of inertia of the
pendulum we can not plot the damping coefficient against
the micrometer reading directly. Rather, we plot the
0
against the micrometer
dimensionless quantity Q = b/I
reading. Q can be calculated as a function of by Q =
0
2 . Based on the GnuPlot fits we found for at various
micrometer settings, Q was calculated and plotted as a
function of micrometer setting, and is given in Figure 2.
With the torque generator turned on, multiperiodic
phase space plots and Poincare maps were attained and
are given in Figures 3-6. Figures 3 and 5 indicate that
both of these settings had multiperiodic motion. The
Poincare plots associated with them are more interesting. Figure 6 has two clusters of points as expected, each
cluster associated with a particular location of periodic
motion in phase space. Figure 4, on the other hand, depicts only one cluster. It is unclear as to why only one
cluster is apparent in Figure 4. One possible explanation
for this is that the natural frequency of the system is almost an integer multiple of the driving frequency for Figures 3 and 4. Further experiments should be performed
to test if when a multiperiodic plot is generated such that
the natural frequency of the system is an integer multiple

FIG. 3: Phase space diagram with pendulum undergoing multiperiodic motion. Micrometer set at 5mm and torque generator had a frequency of 0.5 hz and an amplitude of 2.83
volts.

FIG. 4: Poincare map associated with Figure 3.

of the driving frequency then only one Poincare cluster

is observed.
Figures 7 and 8 are the phase space diagram and the

FIG. 5: Phase space diagram with pendulum undergoing multiperiodic motion. Micrometer set at 7mm and torque generator had a frequency of 0.4 hz and an amplitude of 2.11
volts.

FIG. 8: Poincare map associated with Figure 7.

expect for periodic motion.

Figures 9 and 10 are the phase space diagram and the
Poincare plot for a pendulum undergoing chaotic motion.
It is apparent from the phase space diagram that the

FIG. 6: Poincare map associated with Figure 5.

Poincare plot respectively for periodic motion.

Again,

FIG. 7: Phase space diagram with pendulum undergoing periodic motion. Settings to generate this motion are given in
the experimental section.

it should be noted that the Poincare map presents one

closely clustered set of data points. This is what wed

FIG. 9: Phase space diagram with pendulum undergoing

chaotic motion. Settings to generate this motion are given
in the experimental section. Graphed over an extended domain.

particle has no apparent order to its motion. Though the

motion remains theoretically deterministic, the great degree of dependence on initial condition makes the motion
look random. Furthermore, the Poincare plot for chaotic
motion does not cluster around one or two points as it
does for periodic or multiperiodic motion. Rather it scatters out. If the motion is truly chaotic then this is what
we should expect, since the motion of the pendulum is
essentially random.
Fast Fourier transforms were performed on each of the
four sets of data depicted in Figures 3-10. The fast
Fourier transform for periodic motion is depicted in Figure 11. Peaks are apparent at harmonics of the driving
frequency. Very little noise is apparent in the Fourier
spectrum for periodic motion. For multiperiodic motion
peaks are apparent at integer and half integer multiples
of the driving frequency. The rest of the Fourier spec-

5
fect. The theoretical basis behind the chaotic, driven,
damped pendulum was then examined. Using a Deadalon

FIG. 10: Poincare map associated with Figure 9. 103 data

points.
FIG. 12: 15,000 data point Poincare plot for chaotic pendulum.

FIG. 11: Fourier transform of figures 7 and 8. Y-axis scaled

logarithmically.

trum appears to consist of wavepackets when plotted as

a semi-log plot. The Fourier transform of chaotic motion has a peak at the driving frequency. No peaks were
discernible at harmonics of the driving frequency. Either
they do not exist or they were too weak to be seen over
the background noise. It should be noted that when the
chaotic Fourier transform was plotted as a semi-log plot
it appeared to be inversely related to the frequency.
Finally, the Poincare plot for chaotic motion consisting
of 15,000 data points is plotted in Figure 12. This Figure
seems to have data points located in seemingly random
locations, however there appear to be some forbidden
regions where data points have clustered around but
have not penetrated.

5.

pendulum a series of experiments was performed to determine the natural frequency of the pendulum and the
relationship between damping and micrometer reading
on the pendulum. The natural frequeny of the pendulum was found to be 9.343 0.003. The relationship
between Q, a dimensionless damping parameter, and micrometer reading was found to be Q = 3.2353x-14.963,
where x was the micrometer reading. Finally, we then
examined periodic, multiperiodic, and chaotic trajectories of the pendulum through phase space. The Fourier
transforms of these different kinds of motion was also
analyzed. Phase space plots and Poincare plots for each
type of motion were examined, and implications from
each was dicussed.
An interesting phenomenon was observed when looking
at the Poincare plot of certain multuperiodic trajectories. For multiperiodic trajectories two clusters of points
are expected on a phase space plot, however one of our
multiperiodic Poinare plots depicted only one cluster of
points. We have hypothesized that this is because the
natural frequency of the pedulum is an integer multiple
of the driving frequency. This hypothesis merits further
investigation.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper began by briefly discussing the metaphysical implications of chaos by discussing the butterfly ef-

6.

REFERENCES

[1] H. J. T. Smith, J. . Blackburn, R. L. Forrest. Chaotic

Pendulum