Pendulum with a massless spring-mounted support
ID: pendulum-with-a-massless-spring-mounted-support
For a bob of mass on a massless rod of length , let a massless support slide horizontally against a spring of stiffness . With support displacement and angle from downward vertical, the quadratic Lagrangian, divided by , is . Subtracting its two Euler-Lagrange equations gives . There is one finite normal mode, with the displayed frequency. A stiff spring fixes the support and recovers the simple pendulum frequency. The missing second finite frequency reflects a singular kinetic matrix in small oscillations, not an omitted oscillation branch.
New to topics? Read the docs here!