Predicting the influence of plate geometry on the eddy-current pendulum

摘要

We quantitatively analyze a familiar classroom demonstration, Van Waltenhofen's eddy current pendulum, to predict the damping effect for a variety of plate geometries from first principles. Results from conformal mapping, finite element simulations, and a simplified model suitable for introductory classes are compared with experiments. (C) 2016 American Association of Physics Teachers.