WTF Synchronisation

Filed under: Cool Ish, Videos, WTF

Here’s a little explanation courtesy of Youtube -

Synchronisation of 5 coupled metronomes done in Lancaster University, Physics Dep, Nonlinear dynamics and medical physics group.
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Some explanation by ’shoonya’ which I think is pretty good:

here you go: metronomes (or “pendula”) when on table, oscillate with random phases, since that is how they started and they are “uncoupled” (no energy/information flows from one to other so they do not “know” each other.) When they are? all together on the cans, notice that the cans themselves oscillate little, providing coupling/information crossover. which forces “synchronization” in periodic systems (discovered by Huygens in 17th century).

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Posted on May 7th, 2008 by  dunny 

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