A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing.

किसी खूंटी से लटके ऐसे भार को लोलक कहते हैं जो स्वतंत्रतापूर्वक आगे-पीछे झूल सकता हो। झूला इसका एक व्यावहारिक उदाहरण है।