Simple Harmonic Motion

When an object oscillates back and forth, over the same path and each complete
oscillation taking the same amount of time, the motion is periodic. For many systems the forces
arising from a small displacement are opposite in direction and proportional in size to the
displacement. The equation of motion is particularly simple and solutions take the form of a
sinusoidal variation with time. This important type of oscillation is known as simple harmonic
motion (SHM). In other word we can say that SHM is a motion that is periodic around a fixed
point and the restoring force Fr is proportional to the displacement from the fixed/ equilibrium
point.
What is Simple Harmonic Oscillator: Any objects that undergo SHM is called simple
harmonic oscillator.
Examples of systems undergoing Simple Harmonic Motion are shown in Figure 1.1. All
these systems are simple harmonic oscillators and when slightly displaced from their equilibrium
or rest position will undergo simple harmonic motion. In this course, we are going to focus on a
mass-spring system and simple pendulum (Figures 1.1a and 1.1c).
The oscillatory motion of a system displaced from stable equilibrium and then allowed to adjust
in the absence of externally-imposed forces is termed free oscillation. If there are no frictional
forces the motion is called undamped free oscillation.
In Figure 1.2a, the object of mass m slides without friction on the horizontal surface and
any spring has a natural length at which it exerts no force on the mass, therefore, this position of
the mass at this point is called the equilibrium position.
If the mass attached to the spring is moved either to the left, which compresses the spring, or to
the right, which stretches it, the spring exerts a force on the mass that acts in the direction of
returning the mass to the equilibrium position; hence it is called a restoring force. If the restoring
force F is directly proportional to the displacement x of the stretched spring (Fig. 1.1b), or
compressed spring (Fig. 1.1c) from the equilibrium position, then
F x
F   kx (1.0)
Where k is the proportionality constant for a particuler spring or its spring stiffness constant
(units of N/m), the greater the value of k, the greater the force needed to stretch a spring a given
distance. Please note that the force F in equation 1.0 is not a constant, but varies with position x.
if the equilibrium position has been chosen to be equal to zero, then the minus sign indicates that
the restoring force is always in the dirction opposite to the displacement x.

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Figure 1.1: A simple harmonic oscillators with their equations of motion and angular
frequencies w of oscillation. (a) A simple pendulum, (b) A torsional pendulum, (c) A
mass-spring system, (d) A mass at the center of a string under constant tension T

Figure 1.2: An object of mass m oscillating at the end a uniform spring. The force F on
the object at (a) equilibrium, (b) stretched spring and (c) compressed spring

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Figure 1.3: An object of mass m oscillating on a frictionless surface, indicating
the force on the object and its velocity at different positions of it oscillation cycle.

Let us examine what happens when the uniform spring is initially compressed a distance x = - A,
(Fig. 1.3a.), then the object of mass m is released on the frictionless surface. The spring exerts a
force on the mass causing it to accelerate as it moves towards the equilibrium position. The mass
has maximum speed at the equilibrium position. As the mass reaches the equilibrium position,
the restoring force on it decreases to zero, but its speed at this point is a maximum, Vmax (Fig.
1.3b). As the mass moves farther to the right, the restoring force on it acts to slow it down, and it

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stops for an instant x = A (Fig. 1.3c). it then begins moving back in the opposite direction
accelerating until it passes the equilibrium point (Fig. 1.3d), and then slows down until it reaches

zero speed at the original starting point, x = - A (Fig. 1.3e). it then repeats the motion, moving
back and forth symmetrically between x = A and x = - A.

Term used in describing SHM

1. The distance x of the mass from the equilibrium position at any moment is the displacement
(with a + and – sign)
2. The maximum displacement A – the greatest distance from the equilibrium point is called the
amplitude.
3. One cycle refers to the complete to- and fro motion from some initial point back to that same point
(from x = A and x = - A).
4. The period, T is defined as the time required to complete one cycle.
5. The frequency, f, is the number of compete cycles per second, that is
1 1
f  and T  (1.1)
T f

However, the oscillation of a spring hung vertically is similar to that of a horizontal spring but in this case,
gravity is involve and the length of a vertical spring with a mass m at the end will be longer at equilibrium
than when that same spring is horizontal (Fig. 1.4). At equilibrium,  F  0  mg  kx , so the spring
o

stretches an extra amount xo 

mg to be in equilibrium. If x is measured from this new equilibrium
k
position, equ (1.1) can be used directly with the same value of k.

Figure 1.4: (a) Free spring hung vertically.4(b) Mass m attached to spring in new
equilibrium position.
Equation of motion for a mass-spring system
From equation 1.0,
..
F   kx, F  m x
.. .. k
m x   kx, x   x 1.1b
m
If we assume a solution of the form
= sin

Such that,
̈=− sin
It implies that − =−
And =−
Therefore
= sin 1.1c

Equation 1.1c is the solution to the equation and it gives the position of the oscillator as a function of time

( ) = sin 1.1d
The velocity of the oscillator (i.e. simple harmonic oscillator) is given as
= = cos 1.1e
And the acceleration becomes

k
= =− sin − sin
m

=− ( ) 1.1f
V  wxo cos wt
V  w2 x 2 o cos 2 wt (*)
but cos 2   sin 2   1  cos 2 wt  1  sin 2 wt
From equ(*)
V 2  w2 x 2 o (1  sin 2 wt )
 w2 ( x 2 o  x 2 o sin 2 wt )
 w2 ( x 2 o  x 2 )
2
V 2  w2 x 2 o (1  x ) (**)
x2o
Energy in Simple Harmonic motion
When a spring is stretched or compressed, work is done on the spring. Hence potential energy is stored
in a stretched or compressed spring. if the potential and kinetic energies are given by
1 2 1
PE  kx and KE  mv 2
2 2
Therefore, the total energy E is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies given by

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 1 2 1 2
E mv  kx 1.2
2 2
As the mass attached to the spring oscillate back and forth, the energy continuously changes from
potential energy to kinetic energy and vice versa. At the extreme points, x = A and x = - A (Fig. 1.5a,
c), all the energy is stored in the spring as potential energy and is the same whether the spring is
compressed or stretched to the full amplitude. At the extreme points, v = 0 because the mass
attached to the spring stops for an instant change its direction, equ. 1.2 becomes

1 1 1
E m(0) 2  kA2  kA2 1.3
2 2 2
However, equ. (1.3) shows that the total energy of a simple harmonic oscillator is proportional to the
square of the amplitude. At the equilibrium point, x = 0 (Fig. 1.5b), all the energy is kinetic that is,
equ. 1.2 becomes
1 2 1 1 2
E mvmax  k (0) 2  mvmax 1.4
2 2 2
Where vmax is the maximum speed during the motion (which occur at x = 0). At the intermediate point
(Fig. 1.5d), is partly kinetic and partly potential because energy is conserved. Therefore, equs.
(1.2 and 1.3 will be used). That is
1 2 1 2 1 1 2
mv  kx  kA2  mvmax 1.5
2 2 2 2
From this conservation of energy equation, we will obtain the velocity as a function of position. Solving
for v2, we have
k 2 k 2 x2 
v   A  x   A 1  2 
2 2
1.6
m m  A 
1 2 1
From equ. 1.3 and 1.4, we have mvmax  kA2 , so
2 2
2 k
vmax  A 1.7
m
Substituting equ (1.7) into equ (1.6) and taking the square root, we have
 x2 
v  vmax 1  2  1.8
 A 
This gives the velocity of the object at any position x. the object moves back and forth, so its velocity can
be either + or – direction, but its magnitude depends on its position x.

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Figure 1.5: Energy changes from potential energy to kinetic energy

The Period and Sinusoidal Nature of SHM

The period of a simple harmonic oscillator is found to depend on the stiffness of the spring and also the
mass m that is oscillating but does not depend on the amplitude. Mathematically, the period T is given as

=2 1.9

It will be observed from equ. 1.9 that the larger the mass, the longer the period but the larger the spring
constant k, the shorter the period and vice versa. The frequency f can be written as

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 = 2.0

Position as a function of time

Consider a small object of mass m revolving counter clock wise in a circle of radius A, with
constant speed vmax as shown in figure 1.6. it will be observed that = so the projection
of the object’s position on the x axis is given as

= 2.1

If the mass in the reference circle is rotating with uniform angular velocity w, we can write
= , where is measured in radian. Thus equ. 2.1 becomes

= 2.2

Since =2 , where f is the frequency, equ 2.2 will be given as

= 2 2.3

And in terms of period T

= 2 / 2.4

When t = in equation 2.4 (that is after a time equal to one period), we will have the cosine of
2 ( 3600), which is the same as the cosine of zero. Differentiating equation 2.2 gives velocity
of the system and it gives

=− =− 2.5

Where

=2 = . 2.6

For a given spring-mass system, the maximum speed is higher if the amplitude is larger,
and this always occurs as the mass passes the equilibrium point.

Differentiating equ. 2.5 gives the acceleration of the system as a function of time and it is given
as

=− cos =− cos( ) 2.7

Where =

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 Figure 1.7: Sinusoidal nature of SHM,
position as a function of time.

Figure 1.6: Circular motion of a small object

Figure 1.7 is an example of a sinusoidal nature of SHM. In this case, the equation would be =
( ) because at t = 0, the mass is at the equilibrium position = 0 and has an
initial speed at = 0 which carries it to = at = . Similar interpretation can be
given to the graphs (Fig. 1.8) of Displacement, velocity and acceleration of spring –
mass system as a function time.

Figure 1.8: Graphs showing

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A Simple Pendulum

A simple pendulum consists of a small object (the pendulum bob) suspended from the end of a
lightweight cod. It is assume that the cod does not stretch and that its mass can be ignored
relative to that of the bob. The motion of a simple pendulum moving back and forth with
negligible friction resembles simple harmonic motion. In this case the pendulum bob oscillates
along the arc of a circle with equal amplitude on either side of its equilibrium point and as it
passes through the equilibrium point, it has its maximum speed. In order to show how the
restoring force is proportional to its displacement, we will consider the displacement s of the
pendulum along the arc of (Fig. 1.9) which is given by = where is the angle (in radian)
that the cord makes with the vertical and l is the length of the cord. Since the restoring force
which is the net force on the bob is proportional to , so that the component of the
weight (mg) tangent to the arc will be equal to

=− sin 2.8

Where g is the acceleration due to gravity, the minus sign means the force is in direction opposite
to the angular displacement . Since is so small then, sin is equal to . Therefore, equ. 2.8
becomes

=− sin ≈− 2.9

Since = , substitute = in equation 2.9

=− 3.0

Equation 3.0 approximately fits Hook’s law expression = − , where s can be in place of x
and the force constant = . If we should substitute = in equation 1.9 and we will
have

=2 =2 =2

The frequency = 1 , so

=2 3.1

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F   mg sin 
ma   mg
.. ..
but a  s  l  since s  l sin  and sin    so s  l
..
ml    mg
.. g
   (1*)
l
since    o sin wt , then from second order differential equation
..
   w2 (1**)
equate (1*) with (1**) so that we can have
g
 w2   
l
g
 w2 
l
g
w
l
g
w  2 f 
l
1 g
f 
2 l
l
T  2
g

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Examples

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3.

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(7)

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(8)

(9)

10)

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