Every instructor should know some easy examples of anharmonic oscillations. The rocking of an empty wine bottle or a slender beer glass is one of those: The angle is not a sinusoidal function of time and the period is not independent of the amplitude, not even for small amplitudes. But care has to be taken that the glass does not slip or rotate around a vertical axis. LEGO rockers (see Fig. 1) are much more reliable and versatile.
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© 2013 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2013
American Association of Physics Teachers
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