A horror story about integration methods (Q5896541)

On the basis of two simple numerical methods, i.e. the time-centered leapfrog and predictor-corrector, the author shows that numerical solutions of physical problems can give different results. One unphysical result is shown for the physical pendulum in the case when the predictor-corrector method is used for solving the problem. On the other hand it is shown that the predictor-corrector method performs well with harmonic oscillator, and the time-centered leapfrog performs well with both harmonic oscillator and physical pendulum. The examples are useful for didactic purposes, since they illustrate the need for care in matching numerical methods to problems, especially in long integrations.