Physics 427

Dr. Ayars

Bouncing-ball circuit

This is an electronic circuit that simulates a ball bouncing on an oscillating surface. You can "drive" the surface with an external voltage, changing frequency and amplitude, and you can measure the resulting position and velocity of the ball. You can adjust the strength of the gravitational acceleration and the coefficient of restitution of the ball. At some drive parameters, the motion of the particle becomes chaotic. Interesting investigations could include creation of Poincare plots of the strange attractor, mapping bifurcations, generating return maps, and determination of Lyapunov exponent at different drive parameters.

This circuit was developed from a similar circuit used in the UC Berkeley Advanced Lab course; the current apparatus was built by Eric Ayars. It works reliably.

Picture of this apparatus

Reading

Questions

Location

Room 108, Cabinet 108.12

Hazards

None.

Back to labs page