3D Elastic Pendulum Simulation

Developed a full physics-based MATLAB simulation of a three-dimensional elastic pendulum by solving a nonlinear system of ODEs that models spring elasticity, gravity, and aerodynamic drag acting on a 1 kg mass. Using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg (RKF45) adaptive step-size method, I implemented the solver from scratch, derived all force-balance equations, and simulated the pendulum’s motion under given initial conditions to capture its complex 3D trajectory. The project included building custom visualization tools to plot the motion in space, analyze damping behavior, and observe how nonlinear coupling between the x, y, and z directions shapes the pendulum’s dynamics.