Catenary: The Shape of a Uniform Chain under the Action of Gravity
This is a programme for studying the shape of a uniform chain under the action of gravity.
Inputs:
L
: length of the chain, Δ
x
=
x
2
−
x
1
, Δ
y
=
y
2
−
y
1
.
The discrete problem is one in which there are
N
equal massless strings, each of length
L
/
N
, with
N
− 1 equal masses at the joints.
Press the
Compute Shape
button and scroll down to see the results.
L
=
m, Δ
x
=
m, Δ
y
=
m. (It is required to have (Δ
x
)
2
+ (Δ
y
)
2
≤
L
2
.)
N
for the discrete problem:
Results
Click on the geometry outline to display field components.
This text is displayed if your browser does not support HTML5 Canvas.