Parametric Resonance in the Oscillations of a Charged Pendulum Inside a Uniformly Charged Circular Ring

Abstract

We study the mechanical system consisting of the following variant of the planar pendulum. The suspension point oscillates harmonically in the vertical direction, with small amplitude $\varepsilon$, about the center of a circumference which is located in the plane of oscillations of the pendulum. The circumference has a uniform distribution of electric charges with total charge $Q$ and the bob of the pendulum, with mass $m$, carries an electric charge $q$. We study the motion of the pendulum as a function of three parameters: $\varepsilon$, the ratio of charges $\mu=\frac{q}{Q}$ and a parameter $\alpha$ related to the frequency of oscillations of the suspension point and the length of the pendulum. As the speed of oscillations of the mass $m$ are small magnetic effects are disregarded and the motion is subjected only to the gravity force and the electrostatic force. The electrostatic potential is determined in terms of the Jacobi elliptic functions. We study the parametric resonance of the linearized equations about the stable equilibrium finding the boundary surfaces of stability domains using the Deprit – Hori method.