A conical pendulum consists of a simple pendulum moving in a horizontal circle as shown in the figure. C is the pivot, O the centre of the circle in which the pendulum bob moves with a constant angular velocity ω . If ¯L is the angular momentum about point C, then
Only magnitude of is constant
The direction of ¯Lis perpendicular to the line joining the bob to point C. Since this line keeps changing its orientation in space, direction of ¯L
magnitude of ¯L remains constant.
Alter : The torque about point is perpendicular to the angular momentum vector about point C.
Hence only change the direction of L, and not its magnitude.