Nonlinear Oscillators at Our Fingertips

1. AN EXPERIMENT WITH COUPLED OSCILLATORS. We begin with an experiment that requires minimal equipment: you just need your left and right forefingers. To get warmed up, first point your right forefinger in the natural way (we refer to this position as the “equilibrium position”). Next move your right forefinger back and forth in a motion that could be graphed as shown in Figure 1, where the displacement of the fingertip equals the distance from the equilibrium position.