LAUSR

An experiment is described using double and triple conical pendulums to simulate the behaviour of a rotating chain. The first few rotation modes are calculated theoretically and provide good agreement with experimental results. By contrast, a chain containing many links is difficult to analyse, even though the first few nonlinear modes of a vertically suspended chain are easy to excite and are easily observed using a video camera. The experiment would be suitable as a student project since it is easy to set up and the physics is easily understood, unlike a conventional double pendulum.