Physics 205 Homework 1

Due Monday, September 28 at 5:00 PM

1. Two masses m1 and m2 in a uniform gravitational field g are connected by a spring
of unstretched length h and spring spring constant k. Initially the system is held by m1
so that m2 hangs down vertically, stretching the spring. At t = 0 both m1 and m2 are
at rest, and m1 is released, so that the system starts to fall. Set up a suitable coordinate
system and describe the subsequent motion of m1 and m2 .
2. A particle of mass m moves in one dimension x under the influence of the force
a
F = kx + 3 ,
x
where k and a are constants. Find the equilibrium points, show that they are stable, and
calculate the frequencies of oscillations about them. Show that, for this particular force,
the frequencies are independent of the amplitude of oscillation even if the oscillations are
not small.
3. Consider the nonlinear simple pendulum equation of motion
d2
= 02 sin ,
dt2
where 0 = 2/T0 is the angular frequency of small amplitude oscillations about the stable
equilibrium point, and T0 is the corresponding period.

(a) Numerically solve this equation for (t) with initial conditions (0) = 0 and (0)
= 2,
8, 12.5, 12.6, 12.8, and 14 in units of radians per T0 . You should find that the first three
initial conditions correspond to librations, while the last three correspond to circulations.

What would (0)

have to be to be on the separatrix? Calculate the oscillation periods for
the three libration solutions.
(b) Because librations of the pendulum are strictly periodic, we can expand the solutions
in a Fourier sine series (sine because we have taken (0) = 0),
(t) =

an sin(nt)

n=1

You should have found in part (a) that the first two libration solutions are fairly close
to sinusoidal in shape, while the third shows significant departures. Hence provided the
libration amplitude is not too large, we can probably get away with just the lowest order
term in this expansion,
(t) = a1 sin(t) + ...
Substitute this solution into the equation of motion to show that a first order approximation
to the oscillation period T = 2/ is
s
2a1

,
T =
0 J1 (a1 )
1

where J1 is a Bessel function of order one. Show that if the oscillation amplitude a1 is
small, then this correctly gives T = T0 independent of amplitude. How well does this
approximation work for finite amplitudes?
Hint: you may find the following identities useful.
sin(z sin ) = 2

J2k+1 (z) sin[(2k + 1)]

k=0

J (z) = (z/2)

(1)k

k=0

(z 2 /4)k
k!( + k + 1)

(These and many other useful equations involving special functions can be found online
at the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions: dlmf.nist.gov.)