Research

Dynamics of swing pumping

Principal investigator: Rehan SHAH
Co-investigator(s): Henri HUIJBERTS
Funding source(s): QMUL Faculty of Science and Engineering
 Start: 12-06-2023  /  End: 04-08-2023
 Amount: £3,800
This undergraduate summer internship project involves modelling a playground swing system as an elaborated pendulum to investigate the mechanism of frequently adopted swing pumping strategies that are used to increase the amplitude of swinging through the input of additional energy into the system. An example of this, is the standing pumping strategy in which the rider’s repeated standing-squatting motion causes a change in the rider’s position relative to the suspending rope, which in turn leads to an energy boost and gain in swing amplitude. The aim of this study is to construct a mathematical model to analyse the effect of the standing pumping strategy on the amplitude of oscillation using a combination of both analytical and computational methodologies, to better understand the dynamics of swing pumping.