Hanging up a swing for my grand daughter. Rope and chain (metal content). = She will need to be pushed for the next 2-3 years as we all were. Somewhe= re around the age of 5-6 we learned to push ourselves.=20 Question about the physics of self pushing.
OK, the period (elapsed time between the oscillations over the same point) = is a function of pivot length. E.g. if it takes 2 seconds to swing from fr= ont-top to back and to front-top again, it will take two seconds no matter = how high we swing or how gently (low) we swing. ROPE LENGTH DICTATES 2 SECO= NDS AND THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE. Strictly a function of pivot length. =20 Now, we all learned to self-swing by pulling back on the rope (at our furth= est back point) which effectively shortens the pivot. This shortening (at = the expense of expended energy) in turn shortens the period, which means we= go faster between peak-to-peak. On the front peak we release the rope, ag= ain returning us to full pivot length and and that extra energy goes into r= aising our peaks higher and higher (all within the same exact two seconds).
Anything else going on during this time? Do I have this thought out OK? I= s it the shorter period of the rope-pullback which translates into the high= er peak upon let-go? What am I missing? Been thinking about this for the = last few days.
Ivan Vegvary