Why do clock pendulum always swing in the opposite direction when placed side by side?

This is what the astronomer, the Dutch inventor, Christian Huygens discovered in the 17th century. When he placed two pendulum clocks side by side, Huygens discovered that the pendulum always swung in the opposite direction. In fact, he was lucky to build this watch.

Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1657 while attempting to solve the problem of determining longitude at sea. In his design, there is always a pair of watches, if one is dead or needs to be cleaned and the other is still on time.

Huygens tested this pair of watches at sea, with two of them hanging side by side in the same frame, but in two

Astronomer, inventor Christian Huygens (Photo: worldtempus)

separate box. When the pendulum of the two watches began to waver, Huygens noticed there was a strange phenomenon he called it ' strange harmony ': Regardless of where the two pendulum began to move, in the end, they always sway in opposite directions, as if this is a mirror image of the other one.

It is possible to explain this phenomenon as follows : Because the heavy frame restricts all forces to be flung to the side, the pendulum is born when they swing, so the two pendulum are kept in a stable state. but their symmetrical oscillations eliminate each other's forces. If the ratio of each pendulum to the total mass of the watch is less than 1: 120, the two pendulum tends to swing in opposite directions. But if this ratio is greater than 1: 180 then one or both of the pendulum will gradually stop because the force of the pendulum makes this rather light outer box oscillate, almost like when we shake the bronze box. the lake.

This phenomenon has been neglected for years, until recently, people became interested in. And Huygens was very lucky that his watch was created in proportion to the ' strange ' phenomenon that could happen.