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What makes it swing?
When you first hang a pendulum, it hangs straight down, toward the ground. To make a pendulum swing, you have to pull it to one side and let go. But, as you pull it to the side, you're also pulling the pendulum up a little. And when you let go, gravity (the force that pulls objects toward Earth) pulls the pendulum downward, while the string moves the pendulum to the side. Then, when the pendulum gets to the middle, it keeps swinging and goes up on the other side. The pendulum will keep swinging back and forth for a little while, but pretty soon it will stop. That's because forces like friction and air resistance slow it down.
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See the girl roller skating on the flat street? Inertia is keeping her coasting along, even when she stops moving her feet. This is also why when a pendulum gets to the middle, it keeps swinging and goes up on the other side. Inertia is a scientific idea that explains that anything moving will keep moving the way it's already moving, unless some push or pull makes it move differently.
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