This solar powered pendulum self-starts in the morning as the day brightens. It’s brass components are polished to a high finish creating moving reflections of light off of the bob as it swings silently.
An optional rechargeable battery can be added to keep the pendulum swinging all day and all night, as well as on cloudy days. Of course, the pendulum’s solar cells do the recharging work themselves.
This solar pendulum is one of our favorite side projects. It was designed using dimensions based on an isosceles triangle and derived from Sublime Triangle (Golden Triangle) calculations. These calculations utilize the mathematical Golden Ratio.
The support structure is designed in the shape of the Greek letter Lambda using Golden Ratio calculations. Why lambda? That is for you to ponder. Could be just because the basic shape of the letter lent itself to being a pendulum support structure. Or it could be something deeper…
In any case, we hope you agree that using the Golden Ratio to create a Lambda-shaped support structure for the pendulum bob was a successful approach.
There is a lot of information on the Internet about the Golden Ratio and its usefulness in design. If you are interested in the Golden Ratio, here are a few links to get you started (These links will open in a new browser tab):
- MathIsFun – Golden Ratio
- Canva – What Is The Golden Ratio?
- Wikipedia – Golden Triangle
- Wikipedia – Golden Ratio