A damped pendulum forced with a constant torque

The dynamics of a damped pendulum driven by a constant torque is studied experimentally and theoretically. We use this simple device to demonstrate some generic dynamical behavior including the loss of equilibrium or saddle node bifurcation with or without hysteresis and the homoclinic bifurcation. A qualitative analysis is developed to emphasize the role of two dimensionless parameters corresponding to damping and forcing. (c) 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers.