Pendulum Contained by Cycloid moves along Cycloidal Path/Historical Note

Historical Note on Pendulum Contained by Cycloid moves along Cycloidal Path

The discovery that a Pendulum Contained by Cycloid moves along Cycloidal Path was made by Christiaan Huygens during his work on developing a reliable and accurate pendulum clock.

Unfortunately, the technique proved impractical, as the energy losses caused by the mechanics of the system compromise the pendulum's ability to swing reliably for a practical length of time.

Sources

• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {B}.21$: The Cycloid