Submitted By: Muddassir Ahmed

Class: S.E Mechanical

Roll No: Me-037

Dated: 25/9/2014
1. Skydiving
The principal quantities used to describe the motion of an object are position ( s),
velocity ( v), and acceleration ( a). Since velocity is the time derivative of the position,
and acceleration is the time derivative of the velocity, acceleration is the second time
derivative of the position. Therefore, the position function s(t) for a moving object can
be determined by writing Newton's Second Law, F
net
= ma, in the form



2. Simple harmonic motion.

Consider a spring fastened to a wall, with a block attached to its free end at rest on an
essentially frictionless horizontal table. The block can be set into motion by pulling or
pushing it from its original position and then letting go, or by striking it (that is, by
giving the block a nonzero initial velocity). The force exerted by the spring keeps the
block oscillating on the tabletop. This is the prototypical example ofsimple harmonic
motion.
The force exerted by a spring is given by Hooke's Law; this states that if a spring is
stretched or compressed a distance x from its natural length, then it exerts a force
given by the equation
F=-kx
The positive constant k is known as the spring constant and is directly realted to the
spring's stiffness: The stiffer the spring, the larger the value of k. The minus sign
implies that when the spring is stretched (so that x is positive), the spring pulls back
(because F is negative), and conversely, when the spring is compressed (so that x is
negative), the spring pushes outward (because F is positive). Therefore, the spring is
said to exert arestoring force, since it always tries to restore the block to its equilibrium
position (the position where the spring is neither stretched nor compressed). The
restoring force here is proportional to the displacement ( F = kx x), and it is for this
reason that the resulting periodic (regularly repeating) motion is called simple
harmonic.

Newton's Second Law can be applied to this springblock system. Once the block is set
into motion, the only horizontal force that acts on it is the restoring force of the spring.
Therefore, the equation


Or


This is a homogeneous secondorder linear equation with constant coefficients. The
auxiliary polynomial equation is ,which has distinct conjugate complex
roots . Therefore, the general solution of this differential equation is

This expression gives the displacement of the block from its equilibrium position (which
is designated x = 0).

3. Damped oscillations.

The springblock oscillator is an idealized example of a frictionless system. In real life,
however, frictional (or dissipative) forces must be taken into account, particularly if you
want to model the behavior of the system over a long period of time. Unless the block
slides back and forth on a frictionless table in a room evacuated of air, there will be
resistance to the block's motion due to the air (just as there is for a falling sky diver).
This resistance would be rather small, however, so you may want to picture the spring
block apparatus submerged in a large container of clear oil. The viscosity of the oil will
have a profound effect upon the block's oscillations. The air (or oil) provides
a damping force, which is proportional to the velocity of the object. (Again, recall the
sky diver falling with a parachute. At the relatively low speeds attained with an open
parachute, the force due to air resistance was given as Kv, which is proportional to the
velocity.)
With a restoring force given by kx and a damping force given by Kv (the minus
sign means that the damping force opposes the velocity), Newton's Second Law
( F
net
= ma) becomes kx Kv = ma, or, since v = and a = ,


This secondorder linear differential equation with constant coefficients can be
expressed in the more standard form

The auxiliary polynomial equation is mr
2
+ Kr + k = 0, whose roots are


The system will exhibit periodic motion only if these roots are distinct conjugate
complex numbers, because only then will the general solution of the differential
equation involve the periodic functions sine and cosine. In order for this to be the case,
the discriminant K
2
4 mk must be negative; that is, the damping constant K must be
small; specifically, it must be less than 2 mk . When this happens, the motion is said
to be underdamped, because the damping is not so great as to prevent the system
from oscillating; it just causes the amplitude of the oscillations to gradually die out. [If
the damping constant K is too great, then the discriminant is nonnegative, the roots of
the auxiliary polynomial equation are real (and negative), and the general solution of
the differential equation involves only decaying exponentials. This implies there would
be no sustained oscillations.]
In the underdamped case , the roots of the auxiliary polynomial equation
can be written as


and consequently, the general solution of the defining differential equation is




REFERENCE

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/math/differential-equations/applying-differential-
equations/applications-of-second-order-equations