Mathematical Derivations
Most physics textbooks provide a simplified method of calculation that uses the mass of the bullet and pendulum and the height of the pendulum's travel to calculate the amount of energy in the pendulum, and thus the amount of momentum in the system. This ignores the small amount of momentum involved in rotating the pendulum. Robins' calculations were significantly more involved, and used a measure of the period of oscillation to determine the rotational inertia of the system.
Read more about this topic: Ballistic Pendulum
Famous quotes containing the word mathematical:
“It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)