Stage: 5 Challenge Level: 
Intuitively, how does friction affect motion? Does the $v$ term
accomplish this to some level?
How does the equation relate to $F=ma$?
As a rough sketch without any calculation, what would you expect the trajectory over time of the exact, real pendulum motion be over time? Compare this to a plot of the solution. What would be realistic values of the parameters? Make some well-reasoned estimations if you have no intuitive sense for the scale of the parameters.
How does the equation relate to $F=ma$?
As a rough sketch without any calculation, what would you expect the trajectory over time of the exact, real pendulum motion be over time? Compare this to a plot of the solution. What would be realistic values of the parameters? Make some well-reasoned estimations if you have no intuitive sense for the scale of the parameters.
Simple harmonic motion. Individual. chemistry. biology. 1st and 2nd order linear differential equations with constant coefficients. Discussion. engineering. Differential equations. Maths in STEM. physics.
Published July 2010,August 2010.
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