Pendulum Collision
This interactive simulator explores Pendulum Collision in Classical Mechanics. Two bobs: hit along normal, e elastic; θ¨ between hits vs 1D collisions. Use the controls to change the scenario; watch the visualization and any graphs or readouts to connect the model with lectures, labs, and homework.
Who it's for: Best once you already know the basic definitions and want to build intuition. Typical context: Classical Mechanics.
Key terms
- pendulum
- collision
- pendulum collision
- mechanics
- classical
Live graphs
How it works
Two equal-length pendulums hang from nearby pivots. While the bobs are in contact we treat them like smooth spheres: resolve velocities into components along the line of centers (normal) and tangential to that line. The normal components undergo a one-dimensional collision with restitution e (e = 1 is elastic); tangential components are unchanged, so no rotational dynamics are modeled. Between hits each bob is a simple planar pendulum. For e = 1 total kinetic energy is conserved at each impact; horizontal momentum is not exactly conserved in the full 2D problem because the pivots exert forces, but the graphs track the sum of horizontal bob momenta as a qualitative check.
Key equations
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