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  • This simulation from Andrew Duffy allows students to compare rotational motion and oscillations side by side. A dot rotates around in a circle, while simulated masses on springs oscillate back and forth in synch with it in both the horizontal and vertical directions. A graph plots the vertical motion with respect to time, and both the radius and angular velocity can be adjusted.

http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/HTML5/SHM_circular_motion.html

 

  • Daniel Russell at Penn State has a page still under construction on this topic, but has animations that show the breakdown of circular motion into sinusoidal components.

https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/complex/complex.html