10 Examples of periodic motion

The periodic motion is a type of motion that repeats itself in fixed intervals of time. For example, the Earth revolves around the sun every 365 days, this is called periodic motion. In this article, we discuss 10 examples of periodic motion.

Examples of periodic motion

  • Swinging pendulum
  • rocking chair
  • revolution of Earth
  • rotation of Earth around its axis
  • Revolution of the moon around the Earth
  • Tuning fork
  • Blades of a propeller
  • Hands of a clock
  • Heartbeat
  • Revolution of an electron around a nucleus

Let us look at each one of the examples in detail to understand periodic motion.

Swinging pendulum: A pendulum swings continuously within a fixed time period. It has a constant to-and-fro movement, which can be called a periodic motion.

Rocking chair: A rocking chair rocks to and fro and creates a rocking effect. The rocking motion is periodic; hence, this is also an example of periodic motion.

Rocking chair- example of periodic motion
A rocking horse.

Revolution of Earth: We all know that the Earth takes 365 days and 6 hours to complete one revolution around the Sun. This is a periodic motion.

Rotation of Earth around its axis: Our planet Earth takes 24 h to complete one rotation around its axis. This is a periodic motion and it repeats again and again.

Revolution of the moon around the Earth: The revolution of the moon around the Earth is similar to the revolution o the Earth around the moon.

Tuning fork: The fine vibration of the tuning fork is a good example of periodic motion. In fact, any vibration can be considered an example of periodic motion.

Blades of a propeller: The rotation of the blades of a propeller is periodic.

Example of periodic motion
Continuous rotation of propeller blades is an example of uniform motion. Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay 

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Hands of a clock: The hands of a clock complete a 360-degree rotation at a fixed time which results in the calculation of time.

Heartbeat: A normal heart beats 60 to 100 beats per minute constantly. If there is an uneven heartbeat, then there is some abnormality.

Revolution of an electron around a nuclease: An electron revolves around a positively charged nucleus in a periodic fashion.

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