Chaotic Motion of the Swinging Spring

Side View (x-z section)                                             View from Above (x-y section)

Your browser does not run this applet, for some reason.
Here is what it would look like:

The applet above shows a solution of this dynamical system for large energy. The motion is chaotic, not following any discernable regular pattern but varying in an unpredictable way. The horizontal cross-section should look something like this image:

---

Back to Swinging Spring Home Page

Updated 23 March, 2001

---