The motion of a simple pendulum of arbitrary amplitude is usually treated by approximate methods. By using generalized hypergeometric functions, it is however possible to solve the problem exactly. In this paper, we provide the exact equation of motion of a simple pendulum of arbitrary amplitude. A new and exact expression for the time of swinging of a simple pendulum from the vertical position to an arbitrary angular position θ is given by equation (3.10). The time period of such a pendulum is also exactly expressible in terms of hypergeometric functions. The exact expressions thus obtained are used to plot the graphs that compare the exact time period T(θ0) with the time period T(0) (based on simple harmonic approximation). We also compare the relative difference between T(0) and T(θ0) found from the exact equation of motion with the usual perturbation theory estimate. The treatment is intended for graduate students, who have acquired some familiarity with the hypergeometric functions. This approach may also be profitably used by specialists who encounter during their investigations nonlinear differential equations similar in form to the pendulum equation. Such nonlinear differential equations could arise in diverse fields, such as acoustic vibrations, oscillations in small molecules, turbulence and electronic filters, among others.
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