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Sandbox Physics

Orbits · Oscillations · Chaos

Motion & dynamics

From a swinging pendulum to an orbit around a black hole.

42 experiments

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  1. 01

    Double pendulum

    nonlinear dynamics · sensitivity

    8 min
  2. 02

    Black hole

    gravitational lensing · null geodesics

    12 min
  3. 03

    Three-body motion

    many-body gravity · periodic solutions

    12 min

Browse the collection

42 experiments

  1. Motion & dynamics

    Tuned-Mass Damper Design

    Can a small secondary mass suppress both resonance peaks?

    28 min

  2. Motion & dynamics

    Parametric Resonance Playground

    Can changing stiffness add energy without an applied drive force?

    28 min

  3. Motion & dynamics

    Satellite Attitude & Gravity Gradient

    Can a boom maintain pointing, and can a wheel remove total momentum?

    30 min

  4. Motion & dynamics

    Tennis-Racket Theorem

    Why does a free object flip about its intermediate inertia axis?

    30 min

  5. Motion & dynamics

    Gyroscope Precession Bench

    Why does a spinning wheel precess instead of simply falling?

    30 min

  6. Motion & dynamics

    Spinning Top: Precession & Nutation

    When does a nearly upright spinning top stay upright?

    30 min

  7. Motion & dynamics

    Coriolis Turntable

    Why does a free particle curve on a rotating platform while following a straight inertial path?

    30 min

  8. Motion & dynamics

    Foucault Pendulum & Earth Rotation

    Why does length set the swing period while latitude sets the local Foucault precession rate?

    30 min

  9. Motion & dynamics

    Chaotic Billiards Arena

    Can geometry alone create chaos?

    35 min

  10. Motion & dynamics

    Kicked Rotor & KAM Transition

    Does preserving area prevent chaos?

    35 min

  11. Motion & dynamics

    Principle of Stationary Action

    Must the physical path have the smallest action?

    30 min

  12. Motion & dynamics

    Hamiltonian Phase Space & Integrators

    Can a small energy error hide a wrong trajectory?

    30 min

  13. Motion & dynamics

    Binary-Star Mass Laboratory

    Can motion weigh stars without knowing the viewing angle?

    30 min

  14. Motion & dynamics

    Gravity-Assist Mission Designer

    How can a flyby change speed without an engine burn?

    30 min

  15. Motion & dynamics

    Hohmann Transfer Planner

    Can two burns change an orbit and meet a moving target?

    30 min

  16. Motion & dynamics

    Orbital Rendezvous in the Hill Frame

    Does reaching the target also mean matching its velocity?

    30 min

  17. Motion & dynamics

    One-Dimensional Potential Landscape

    Can you predict motion from the energy landscape?

    25 min

  18. Motion & dynamics

    Double-Well, Barrier & Separatrix Lab

    How does motion change at a barrier?

    30 min

  19. Motion & dynamics

    Mechanical Lattice & Dispersion

    How does a packet travel when its crests and envelope move differently?

    30 min

  20. Motion & dynamics

    FPUT Recurrence Laboratory

    Can energy spread among modes and later return?

    30 min

  21. Motion & dynamics

    Granular Impact Chain Designer

    Can mass grading lower the wall-force peak at the same impact energy?

    30 min

  22. Motion & dynamics

    Duffing Oscillator Laboratory

    Why can the same forcing frequency produce different responses?

    28 min

  23. Motion & dynamics

    Finite-Amplitude Pendulum

    Does swing amplitude change the clock?

    22 min

  24. Motion & dynamics

    Bead on a Rotating Hoop

    Where will the bead settle after symmetry breaks?

    25 min

  25. Motion & dynamics

    Driven Pendulum & Poincaré Section

    Does the record repeat at the drive phase?

    30 min

  26. Motion & dynamics

    Moment-of-Inertia Designer

    Which distances matter to rotational inertia?

    22 min

  27. Motion & dynamics

    Rolling Race Laboratory

    Is the sphere always the fastest?

    22 min

  28. Motion & dynamics

    Yo-Yo & Spool Direction Puzzle

    Can the pull direction predict the motion direction?

    22 min

  29. Motion & dynamics

    One-Dimensional Collision Bench

    What survives an inelastic collision?

    20 min

  30. Motion & dynamics

    Two-Dimensional Collision Table

    What controls the scattering angle?

    22 min

  31. Motion & dynamics

    Ballistic Pendulum Lab

    Can a height measurement identify launch speed?

    24 min

  32. Motion & dynamics

    Double Pendulum & Chaos

    How long can nearly identical starts share one trajectory?

    8 min

  33. Motion & dynamics

    How Orbits Take Shape

    How can one force law draw three different conic sections?

    10 min

  34. Motion & dynamics

    How Coupled Springs Move Together

    Can collective motion be decomposed into clean modes?

    10 min

  35. Motion & dynamics

    Binary Neutron Star Merger

    How does a rising chirp foretell tidal collision, kilonova ejecta, and a compact remnant?

    14 min

  36. Motion & dynamics

    How a Black Hole Bends Light

    Why can one thin accretion disk appear both above and below the black-hole shadow?

    12 min

  37. Motion & dynamics

    The Three-Body Dance

    Why does one extra body remove the general orbit formula?

    12 min

  38. Motion & dynamics

    Mass–Spring Oscillator

    What sets a spring clock’s period and what only shifts its equilibrium?

    18 min

  39. Motion & dynamics

    Damped Oscillations & Ringdown

    When can camera peaks identify damping and stiffness?

    18 min

  40. Motion & dynamics

    Driven Resonance & Phase Lag

    How do displacement resonance, power resonance and phase differ?

    18 min

  41. Motion & dynamics

    Free Fall & Measuring Gravity

    Can a noisy camera and a finite photogate measure gravity accurately?

    14 min

  42. Motion & dynamics

    Projectile Flight Designer

    How do you design a target launch through drag and crosswind?

    16 min