Question

A student is observing a pendulum swinging back and forth. Each time it swings, the pendulum bob reaches a lower maximum, and eventually it comes to rest and hangs straight down vertically. What happens to the total energy of the pendulum? Does this violate the law of conservation of energy? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

The total energy of the pendulum stays the same. This does not violate the law of conversation of energy because that law states energy cannot be created/destroyed and the total amount of energy has stayed the same.