SwingingAtwoodMachine:Experimentalandnumericalresults, andatheoreticalstudy

a b s t r a c t A Swinging Atwood Machine (SAM) is built and some experimental results concerning its dynamic behaviourarepresented.Experimentsclearlyshowthatpulleysplayaroleinthemotionofthependulum, sincetheycanrotateandhavenon-negligibleradiiandmasses.Equationsofmotionmustthereforetake intoaccountthemomentofinertiaofthepulleys,aswellasthewindingoftheropearoundthem.Their influenceiscomparedtopreviousstudies.Apreliminarydiscussionoftheroleofdissipationisincluded. The theoretical behaviour of the system with pulleys is illustrated numerically, and the relevance of differentparametersishighlighted.Finally,theintegrabilityofthedynamicsystemisstudied,themain resultbeingthatthemachinewithpulleysisnon-integrable.Thestatusoftheresultsonintegrabilityof thepulley-lessmachineisalsorecalled. '2010ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.