Simple analytic formula for the period of the nonlinear pendulum via the Struve function: connection to acoustical impedance matching

Abstract

An approximate formula for the period of pendulum motion beyond the small amplitude regime is obtained based on physical arguments. Two different schemes of different accuracy are developed: in the first less accurate scheme, emphasis is given on the non-quadratic form of the potential in connection to isochronism, and a specific form of a generic formula that is met in many previous works is produced, while the second and main result contains the Struve function which is further approximated by a simple sinusoidal expression based on its maximum value. The accuracy of the final formula gives a relative error of less than 0.2% for angles up to 140°. In addition, a simple relation between the Struve function and the complete elliptic integral of the first kind is produced, since they both constitute solutions of the pendulum period. This relation makes it possible for someone to connect different areas in physics and solve a difficult task by comparison with another much more simple one. As an example, a connection between the pendulum period and the acoustical radiation impedance is proposed through impedance matching and some interesting relations are produced. This paper is intended for undergraduate students to be useful for analysing pendulum experiments in introductory physics labs and it is also believed to offer valuable insight into some properties of the simple pendulum in undergraduate courses on general physics.