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coupled cycles

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By michael lee ⋅ May 12, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

geek the f out.

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9 comments for “coupled cycles”

  1. OK…I’ll bite…how does that work?

  2. I’m really not sure, but I’ll make a wild guess.

    The surface that they’re resting on serves to transfer energy, as motion, back and forth between the different metronomes. If there are just two metronomes, and A and B are swinging left at slightly different times, when B finishes it’s swing and starts to move back, the energy from A will provide resistance to the change in direction, slowing it down on the backward swing. After several cycles, this resistance will have slowed down the cycle on B enough that it matches the cycle of A. Now, times it by 5.

    Anybody have a better answer? As I said, mine is pretty much pulled from the dark nether region.

  3. To me what’s interesting is that it doesn’t lock the first time they line up. There’s some sort of inertia going on that makes it miss a couple times in either direction before they equalize back to in sync.

  4. The scientific principle being demonstrated here is that if we are only willing to get in the groove, we can all be friends.

    Hey - What did one metronome say to the other?
    “I feel ya, I feel ya.”

  5. Sharolyn funny.

  6. (Sometimes I get a little hyper and silly at night. I hope I didn’t ruin a true mathematical wonder!)

  7. Sharolyn, you teach elementary school, right? And all you get is “a little hyper and silly” at night? I’d be getting a little drunk and bitter at night if I were you.

    (Not that you SHOULD, I’m just sayin’. I break out in hives if I have to stay in my son’s class for more than a couple hours. I don’t know how you do it.)

  8. Oh, I can get hyper and silly at school, too, but those stories are for another blog.

    Another reflection I had to this video is that there are some things computers can’t do. Most people use electric metronomes these days. They get the job done. And yet they don’t have inertia, and they can’t have physical relationships with one another. Sometimes we take the awe of technology and forget that it can’t replace everything.

    Please don’t challenge me on this. I have no philosophy of technology, and I don’t know the *secret language* (perfect example-insert link: http://addisonrd.com/WordPress/2007/12/grow-your-own-nerd/).

  9. Mike, you’re a dumbass. This is clearly done with magic.

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