Spherical pendulum 2026-10-25
A point mass constrained to a fixed distance from a pivot and free to move in three dimensions under uniform gravitational acceleration. With the vertical axis downward and polar angle measured from it, the Lagrangian is the expression in the title. The azimuth is a cyclic coordinate, so is conserved angular momentum about the vertical axis. A rigid massless rod enforces the constraint without the loss-of-tension limitation of a string.