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The Pendulum Wave is a device that provides such an opportunity. It consists of a series of pendulums with increasing periods that, when simultaneously released, produce the effect of a changing transverse wave that cycles back to the beginning conditions.
This device shows a hypnotic effect by having a series of pendula with increasing time periods, so that when they are simultaneously released, they produce the effect of a wave. The wave in this case diminishes in wavelength, then looks very chaotic, then comes back to the straight line from which it started. The lengths of each pendulum is related to the one next to it in a way that, after a certain number of swings, they are back in phase with each other. When put to music, the brain of the beholder tries to put the audio and visual together, even though they do not match. It can also be seen as a beat frequency demonstration.
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Supplies:
- Qty 6: 2”x4”x 8 feet long
- 2 Sawhorse Brackets
- 2 cans black spray-paint
- 2 Sets of standard Bocce Balls
- 48 1-inch eye hooks
- Braided Fishing Line
- Box of 1-inch drywall screws
Prepare the sawhorse base:
- Cut 4 of 2x4 lengths of wood down to 6 feet
- Paint these 6-foot-long pieces and one 8-foot-long pieces black and let dry
- Insert the Sawhorse Brackets and secure them with screws
- Use the 8-foot-long 2x4 as the beam between the two sawhorse legs
- Drill 32 small holes in the bottom of your 2x4 beam for the eye hooks. Each Bocce Ball will hang from two eye hooks. Each corresponding pair of eye hooks will be two inches apart with 3 inches of space between each set of pairs.
- Insert 16 pairs of dry wall screws on the side of the 8-foot beam above one of the hanging eye hooks in a way that will allow you to wrap the line for adjusting the length of the hanging ball.
Hang the Bocce Balls:
- Drill a small hole in each Bocce Ball and insert an eye hook into each ball.
- Cut 16 pieces of braided fishing line at 70 inches long and tie a loop into each end of the line
- Loop the line through an eye hook on the beam, down through one of the Bocce Balls, and then back up the other corresponding eye hook it should be paired with while hanging. Then secure the loop around one of the screws and wrap it in a way that will allow you to adjust to the desired height.
Adjusting the height of the Bocce Balls:
- The easiest way to align the balls is to use a portion of the braided fishing line strung from one side of the sawhorse to the other.
- You can perform small adjustments by wrapping around the screw heads at the top and/or turning the eye hooks on the Bocce Balls by tightening or loosening.
