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# pendulum

noun (a pendulum, pendulums)

«pendulum» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A pendulum is a weight hanging from a fixed point on a string or rod, which swings backwards and forwards. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#m1)
2. The swinging part of some old clocks, like a grandfather clock, which keeps the clock on time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#m2)
3. The idea of something changing from one extreme to the other and back again, like the «pendulum of opinion». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons pupils make a pendulum with string and a weight, time its swings with a stopwatch and find that the length of the string changes how long one swing takes, while the weight hardly does; it is a classic fair test. In stories a ticking pendulum clock adds a spooky or calm feeling. Phrases: swing like a pendulum, the pendulum swings, pendulum clock, the pendulum of a clock.

### Examples

- The pendulum of the grandfather clock swung slowly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x1)
- We timed ten swings of the pendulum and divided by ten. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x2)
- A longer pendulum swings more slowly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x3)
- Changing the weight did not change the pendulum's time much. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x4)
- Galileo noticed a lamp swinging like a pendulum in a church. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x5)
- The hypnotist swung a watch like a pendulum. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x6)
- The pendulum of fashion has swung back to wide trousers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x7)
- A playground swing is a kind of pendulum. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x8)
- The pendulum of the great clock went to and fro, and the hands turned, and everything in the room became still older; but they did not observe it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/#x9)

### Note

Countable: one pendulum, two pendulums (the Latin plural «pendula» is very rare). Pronounced «PEN-dyoo-lum» or «PEN-juh-lum». In science investigations: to measure the time of one swing more accurately, time ten swings and divide by 10. Trap: many children guess a heavier weight swings faster, but the length of the string matters, not the weight.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «pendulum» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pendulum/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«pendulum» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/pendulum.html) on Mova free.