The pendulum consists of a circular viscoelastic rod fixed at one end and attached to a disk at the other end. The disk, initially at rest, is subjected to a step function of torque. The subsequent motion is analyzed in terms of normal modes and normal coordinates. The normal modes are found by separation of variables. The characteristic numbers associated with these modes depend only on the moments of inertia of the disk and rod. The normal coordinates satisfy integro‐differential equations of the Volterra type. The mechanical properties of polyisobutylene at 25°C were represented in differential operator form. The Volterra integral equations were then solved by means of the Laplace transforms. An analysis of the numerical results shows that only the oscillatory part of the fundamental mode should persist after a short time. This result is in qualitative agreement with observations. This method of analysis may be applied to other dynamic problems in linear viscoelasticity provided the characteristic equation can be reduced to a form that does not involve the mechanical properties of the material.