2 VIBRATION PROBLEMS IN ENGINEERING

Denoting a vertical displacement of the vibrating weight from its position

of equilibrium by x and considering
this displacement as positive if it is in
a downward direction, the expression for the tensile force in the spring cor-
responding to any position of the weight becomes

F = W + kx. (a)

In deriving the differential equation of motion we will use Newton's prin-

ciple stating that the product of the mass of a particle and its acceleration
is equal to the force acting in the direction of acceleration. In our case the
mass of the vibrating body is W
/g, where g is the acceleration due to
gravity; the acceleration of the body W
is given by the second derivative

of the displacement x with respect to time and will be denoted by x] the

forces actingon the vibrating body are the gravity force W, acting down-
wards, and the force F of the spring (Eq. a) which, for the position of the
weight indicated in Fig. 1, is acting upwards. Thus the differential equa-
tion of motion in the case under consideration is

x = W-(W + kx). (1)

a

This equation holds for any position of the body W. If, for instance, the
body in its vibrating motion takes a position above the position of equilib-
rium and such that a compressivc force in the spring is produced the expres-
sion (a) becomes negative, and both terms on the right side of eq. (1) have
the same sign. Thus in this case the force in the spring is added to the
gravity force as it should be.
Introducing notation

tf
P = ^ = 4- M
W .,'
(2)

differential equation (1) can be represented in the following form

x + 2
p x = 0. (3)

This equation will be satisfied if we put x = C\ cos pt or x = 2 sin pt,

where C\ and 2 By adding these solutions the
are arbitrary constants.
general solution of equation (3) will be obtained:

x = Ci cos pt + 2 sin pt. (4)

It is seen that the vertical motion of the weight W has a vibratory charac-