Experimental study of synchronization effects in a system constituted by weakly coupled metronomes: A didactic experiment

The aim of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of oscillators’ synchronization through a didactic experiment that involves a system constituted by a set of weakly coupled oscillating metronomes. A metronome is a device that allows to vary and select the oscillation parameters and to investigate synchronization processes. To carry out the experiment, metronomes were set over a common platform disposed on cylinders arranged transversally and that were free to roll on a fixed plane. In this paper we shall describe a teaching unit addressed to students of an academic course in Physics, Mathematics or Engineering.