PHY11 Lesson 7

Simple Harmonic
Motion (SHM)
Periodic Motion
periodic motion – motion that repeats at regular time
intervals.
Consider an object oscillating back and forth about
the origin of the x-axis.
1 1
T f 
f T
2
  2f 
T
period (T) – time to complete one cycle.

frequency (f) – number of cycles per unit time.

amplitude (A) – maximum displacement from

equilibrium position.
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
simple harmonic motion – periodic motion where the
restoring force is proportional to the displacement.

Suppose the spring obeys Hooke’s Law, the

object is displaced by an amount x=A, and then released.

F  kx

ma  kx
k
a x
m

v0
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
When the object
is at the equilibrium
position x=0:

F 0 a0
v  vmax

When the object

is at x = - A:

k
F  kx a   x
m
v0
Example 1

ANSWERS:
(a) 200 N/m (b)  = 20 rad/s, f = 3.2 Hz, T = 0.31 s
SHM and UCM
Simple harmonic motion is the projection of
uniform circular motion onto a diameter.

Apparatus for creating the reference circle.

Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM

x  A cos  v x  vQ sin  a x  aQ cos 

Period and Frequency in SHM

a x  aQ cos 
k 2
   2f 
m T
aQ   2 A

a x   A cos 
2
1 k
f 
2 m
a x   2 x

m
k T  2
a x k
m
Displacement in SHM

The displacement of a body in SHM is given by the

equation:

k

x  A cost   
where:
m
  phase angle
The phase angle (in radians) tells the position xo of the
object at t=0.
Graph of x vs. t for SHM ( = 0):

xo  A cos 
Velocity in SHM

The velocity of a body in SHM is given by the

equation:

v  A sin t   

dx
v vmax  A
dt

vo  A sin 

Phase Angle 

vo  A sin   vo 
   tan  
1

xo A cos   xo 
Amplitude in SHM

2
vo
vo  A sin   A sin  2 2

 2

xo  A cos  xo  A cos 
2 2 2

2
vo
 xo  A (sin   cos  )
2 2 2 2

 2

2
vo
A  xo
2

 2
Acceleration in SHM

The acceleration of a body in SHM is given by the

equation:

dv
a a   A cost   
2

dt

amax   2 A

ao   A cos 
2
Example 2

Example 1

ANSWERS:
(a) T = 0.31 s, A = 0.025 m, =0.93 rad
(b) x = (0.025m) cos [(20 rad /s)t - 0.93 rad]
v = -(0.50 m/s)sin [(20 rad /s)t - 0.93 rad]
a = -(10 m/s2) cos [(20 rad /s)t - 0.93 rad]
Energy in SHM
The energy of a body in SHM is the sum of its
potential energy and kinetic energy.

1 2 1 2
E  kx  mv
2 2
1 2 1
E  kA E  mvmax
2

2 2

1 2 1 2 1 2
kA  kx  mv k
2 2 2 v A2  x 2
m
Example 3
Example 1

ANSWERS:
(a) vmax = 0.40 m/s, vmin = - 0.40 m/s
(b) amax = 8.0 m/s2
(c) vx = - 0.35 m/s, ax = - 4 m/s2
(d) E = 0.040
(e) J , U = 0.010 J, K = 0.030 J
The Simple Pendulum
A simple pendulum consists of a mass at the end of
a string swinging with a period T.

If the simple pendulum

is displaced from its
equilibrium position, the
restoring force is

F  mg sin 
mg
F  mg   x
L
mg
 kx   x
L
L
T  2
g
Example 4

ANSWER: 10.7 m/s2