Mystery of how pendulum clocks synchronise solved

This energy gives a 'kick' that over days alters the swing of the pendulums It is a mystery that has puzzled scientist for nearly 350 years, but now researchers claim to have solved what causes pendulum clocks to synchronise their swings. Scroll down for video Researchers have found that minute amounts of energy transmitted between two pendulum clocks connected to the same beam can cause them over time to become synchronised. The phenomenon was first spotted by Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, who in 1665 after inventing the pendulum clock noticed two of them attached to the same wall swung in time with each other no matter if the clocks had been started at different times. Clock makers have often noticed the strange effect that causes the swinging pendulums to synchronise over time and it appear to be due to sound passing through the wall they are connected to causing the pendulums to exchange energy with each other Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, above, was the first person to spot the phenomenon in two pendulum clocks hanging on his wall in 1665 when he noticed they both began to synchronise over time no matter how out of sync they were when they were started.