Lecture 1

Simple Harmonic Motion

 Outline
• Periodic Motion and Waves
• Hooke’s Law
• Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
• SHM Motion as a Function of Time
• Angular Frequency, Period and Frequency of SHM
• Elastic Potential Energy
• Motion of Pendulum
• Damped Harmonic Motion
• Resonance
 Periodic Motion and Waves
• If an object vibrates or oscillates back and
forth over the same path, each cycle taking
the same amount of time, the motion is called
periodic.
• Periodic motion is one of the most important
kinds of physical behavior
• Periodic motion can cause disturbances that
move through a medium in the form of a wave
– Many kinds of waves occur in nature
 Hooke’s Law

Formula:
Fs = - k x

– Fs is the spring force

– k is the spring constant
– x is the displacement of the object from its equilibrium
position
– The negative sign indicates that the force is always
directed opposite to the displacement
 Hooke’s Law Force
• The force acts toward the equilibrium position
– It is called the restoring force
• The direction of the restoring force is such that
the object is being either pushed or pulled
toward the equilibrium position
 Hooke’s Law Applied to a Spring –
Mass System

Fs  k x 
Fs  k  x   kx

Fs  k 0  0
 Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
• Motion that occurs when the net
force along the direction of
motion obeys Hooke’s Law
– The force is proportional to the
displacement and always directed
toward the equilibrium position
• The motion of a spring-mass
system is an example of Simple
Harmonic Motion
 Amplitude, Period & Frequency
• Amplitude, A is maximum position of the object from
its equilibrium position.
– Oscillate between the positions x = ± A.
• The period, T, is the time that it takes for the object to
complete one complete cycle of motion
– From x = A to x = - A and back to x = A
• The frequency, ƒ, is the number of complete cycles or
vibrations per unit time
– Frequency is the reciprocal of the period
–ƒ=1/T
Cont.
 Acceleration of an Object in Simple
Harmonic Motion
• Newton’s second law will relate force and
acceleration (F= Force, m= mass, a= acceleration)
• The force is given by Hooke’s Law
• F = - k x = ma (k = spring’s constant, x= displacement)
o a = -kx/m
• The acceleration is a function of position
o Acceleration is not constant and therefore the
uniformly accelerated motion equation cannot be
applied (This is because x=displacement always
changes along the time in the system.)
Example 1:

The spring constant of the

spring is 320 N/m and the bar
indicator extends 2.0 cm.
What force does the air in the
tire apply to the spring?

Answer: 6.4 N
Example 2:

A 0.350-kg object attached to a spring

of force constant 1.30×102 N/m is free
to move on a frictionless horizontal
surface. If the object is released from
rest at x = 0.100 m, find the force on it
and its acceleration at x = 0.100 m, x =
0.0500 m, x = 0 m, x = -0.0500 m, and
x = -0.100 m.
 Motion as a Function of Time
• Use of a reference circle allows
a description of the motion
• x = A cos (ωt + Φ)
– x is the position at time t
– x varies between +A and –A
– ω is called the angular frequency
– Units are rad/s
– Φ is the phase constant or the
initial phase angle
Position, Velocity, Acceleration as a
Function of Time
xt  
 cos  and  
A t
xt   A cos  where   t  
xt   A cos t   

  A sin  t   
dx
v
dt
2
a  2   A cos t      x
d x 2 2

dt
 Graphical Representation of Motion
• When x is a maximum
or minimum, velocity is
zero
• When x is zero, the
velocity is a maximum
• When x is a maximum
in the positive direction,
a is a maximum in the
negative direction
 Verification of Sinusoidal Nature
• This experiment shows the
sinusoidal nature of SHM
• The spring mass system
oscillates in SHM
• The attached pen traces
out the sinusoidal motion
 Period and Frequency from
Circular Motion
• Period

– This gives the time required for an

object of mass m attached to a spring
of constant k to complete one cycle of
its motion

• Frequency

– Units are cycles/second or Hertz, Hz

 Angular Frequency
• The angular frequency is related to the
frequency

• The frequency gives the number of cycles per

second
• The angular frequency gives the number of
radians per second
 Derive the angular frequency ω
F  kx  ma where a   2 x
Then  kx  m x and k  m
2 2

k 2 m 1 1 k
Finally,   .T  2 .f   .
m  k T 2 m
• The frequency gives the number of cycles per
second
• The angular frequency gives the number of
radians per second
Example 3:

A mass of 0.250 kg hanging at a lower end of

spring causes the spring to extend by 7.0 cm.
Calculate
a) the spring constant
b) the period of the vertical oscillation of the
0.250 kg mass.

Answer: (a) 35 N m–1; (b) 0.53 s

Example 4:

A 1.30×103-kg car is constructed on a frame supported by

four springs. Each spring has a spring constant of 2.00×104
N/m. If two people riding in the car have a combined mass
of 1.60×102 kg, find the frequency of vibration of the car
when it is driven over a pothole in the road. Find also the
period and the angular frequency. Assume the weight is
evenly distributed.
(Hint: period, frequency and angular frequency stand for
singular, this means all the four springs have the same
values for all the 3 quantities above!)

Answer: 1.18 Hz, 0.847 s, 7.41 rad / s

Example 5:

An object is moving in a simple harmonic motion

which can be described by the equation
x(t) = (15 mm) sin (10πt).
a) What is the amplitude and the period of the
motion?
b) Calculate the displacement of the object when
t = 0.040 s.

Answer: (a) 15 mm, 0.2 s; (b) 14.3 mm

Example 6:

The device consists of a

spring-mounted chair in
which the astronaut sits.
The spring has a spring
constant of 606 N/m and
the mass of the chair is
12.0 kg. The measured
period is 2.41 s. Find the
mass of the astronaut.

Answer: 77.2 kg
 Elastic Potential Energy
• A compressed spring has potential energy
– The compressed spring, when allowed to expand,
can apply a force to an object
– The potential energy of the spring can be
transformed into kinetic energy of the object
• The energy stored in a stretched or compressed
spring or other elastic material is called elastic
potential energy
– PEs = ½kx2
Energy in a Spring Mass System
 Energy in the Simple Harmonic Motion

Kinetic energy

Potential energy

Total energy

Note:
Derived Energy in the SHM

x  A cos t , v    A sin  t ,  
dx k
dt m
Potential Energy, U  kx2  k  A cos t   kA2 cos 2  t 
1 1 2 1
2 2 2
Kinetic Energy, K  mv  m   A sin  t  m 2 A2 sin 2  t 
  
1 2 1 2 1
2 2 2
E  K  U  kA2 cos 2  t   m 2 A2 sin 2  t 
1 1
2 2
2
1  k  2 2
 kA cos  t   m  A sin  t 
1 2 2

2 2  m 

 kA2 cos 2  t   k A2 sin 2  t 

1 1
2 2
1
2
 
 kA2 cos 2  t   sin 2  t   kA2 , where cos 2  t   sin 2  t   1
1
2
From the above diagram, String stretched at maximum
displaceme nt x  A, for case a, they is no any kinetic energy K
in this system when the potential energy U is maximun and
hence velocity v is 0 m/s , the accelerati on for this
case is a   2 x and replace with x  A , and a   2 A.

For case b, the kinetic energy K in this system become maximum

when the string comes back to equlibrium position x  0m, velocity
v  A also become maximun due to this reasons. (Refer slide 36).
The potential energy U  0 J since position x  0m. The accelerati on
a  0 m/s 2 because kx  ma; when x  0m then k 0   ma; and
hence a  0 m/s 2 .
Example 7:

A 0.20-kg ball is attached to

a vertical spring. The
spring constant is 28 N/m.
When released from rest,
how far does the ball fall
before being brought to a
momentary stop by the
spring?
(Note: Momentary stop -> lowest
point -> the kinetic energy = 0.)

Answer: 0.14 m
Example 8:

A 13000-N car starts at rest and rolls down a hill from a

height of 10.0 m. It then moves across a level surface and
collides with a light spring-loaded guardrail.
(a) Neglecting any losses due to friction, and ignoring the
rotational kinetic energy of the wheels, find the
maximum distance the spring is compressed. Assume a
spring constant of 1.0×106 N/m.
(b) Calculate the maximum acceleration of the car after
contact with the spring, assuming no frictional losses.
(c) If the spring is compressed by only 0.30 m, find the
change in the mechanical energy due to friction.

Answer: (a) 0.51 m; (b) –380 m s–2; (c) –8.5 × 104 J

Example 9:

A 0.500-kg cart connected to a light spring for which the force

constant is 20.0 N/m oscillates on a frictionless, horizontal air
track.
(A) Calculate the maximum speed of the cart if the amplitude
of the motion is 3.00 cm.
(B) What is the velocity of the cart when the position is
2.00 cm?
(C) Compute the kinetic and potential energies of the system
when the position of the cart is 2.00 cm.

Answer: (a) 0.190 m s–1;

(b) ±0.141 m s–1;
(c) 5 × 10–3 J, 4 × 10–3 J
 Simple Pendulum
Hooke’s law is F = - kx
Ft  mg sin 
For small angles, sin   
s
Ft  mg  mg    s  L
L
 mg   mg 
Ft    s  kx   s  x  s
 L   L 
 mg  mg
 ks   s  k 
 L  L
k mg L g
  2 f   
m m L
 Period of Simple Pendulum
g
 (small angles only)
L
L
T  2 (small angles only)
g
• This shows that the period is independent of the
amplitude and the mass
• The period depends on the length of the
pendulum and the acceleration of gravity at the
location of the pendulum
Simple Pendulum Compared to a Spring-Mass System
Example 10:

Determine the length of a simple pendulum that will

swing back and forth in simple harmonic motion with
a period of 1.00 s.

Answer: 0.248 m
 Damped Oscillations
• Only ideal systems
oscillate indefinitely
• In real systems, friction
retards the motion
• Friction reduces the
total energy of the
system and the
oscillation is said to be
damped
 More Types of Damping
• With a higher viscosity, the object returns rapidly to
equilibrium after it is released and does not oscillate
– The system is said to be critically damped
• With an even higher viscosity, the piston returns to
equilibrium without passing through the equilibrium
position, but the time required is longer
– This is said to be overdamped
 Graphs of Damped Oscillators

• Curve a shows an
underdamped oscillator
• Curve b shows a
critically damped
oscillator
• Curve c shows an
overdamped oscillator
 Resonance
When the driving frequency is equal to the natural
frequency of the system, the amplitude of the
motion is a maximum. This condition is called
resonance.

Two resonance curves for an oscillator

with natural frequency f0. The amplitude
of the driving force is constant. In the
red graph, the oscillator has one fourth
as much damping as in the blue graph.
Example of Resonance

Turbulent winds set up

torsional vibrations in the
Tacoma Narrow Bridge,
causing it at a frequency
near one of the natural
frequencies of the bridge
structure. The resonance
condition led to the bridge’s
collapse.