Simple Harmonic Motion

Announcements:
•  Midterm 3 solutions on D2L. If
you have questions, feel free to
talk to me after class, setup an
appointment, or email me. You
can also ask in the help room.
•  Midterm 3 exam scores will be
posted later today. Average was
56 with standard deviation of 15.
•  Two topics left in the semester:
Simple Harmonic Motion and
Fluid Dynamics.
1
 Clicker question 1 Set frequency to BA
A mass is oscillating back and forth on a spring as shown (in the
picture the spring is fully compressed). At which position is the
magnitude of the acceleration of the mass a maximum? Position 0
is the equilibrium (unstretched) position of the mass.
A.  0
0 M E
B.  M
C.  E
D.  Impossible to tell

From Newton’s 2nd law F=ma, the maximum acceleration

will occur wherever the net force is a maximum.
For a spring, F = −k Δx, so the maximum force occurs at
the maximum value for Δx (displacement from equilibrium).

2
Examples of periodic motion (oscillations)
vibrating guitar string A pendulum swinging
back and forth
quartz oscillator in a watch

molecular vibrations

3
 Periodic motion
In periodic motion systems there is an equilibrium point at which
the net force is 0 so if the system is at rest at that point it will not
move (it is in equilibrium).

Any movement away from the equilibrium point results in a force

toward the equilibrium point. This is called a restoring force.

We will investigate two examples:

A mass at the end of a spring (restoring force from spring)
A mass at the end of a string – pendulum (restoring force is gravity)

Both situations are examples of simple harmonic motion which

occur when the restoring force is proportional to the displacement.
It is again important to use radians rather than degrees
4
 Mass on end of spring
We previously encountered springs 0 M E
as a source for spring potential
energy and we found the following:

The force exerted by the spring is F = −k ⋅ Δx.

1 2
U =
The potential energy stored in a spring is s 2 k(Δx) .
Remember, Δx measures the position from the equilibrium point.

The maximum force (and therefore maximum acceleration)

occurs at the endpoints and there is no force (but maximum
velocity) when the particle goes through the equilibrium point.

We did not investigate how the position varies as a

function of time. Since the acceleration is not constant,
we cannot use the constant acceleration equations. 5
 Motion of mass on end of spring
0 A/2 A
What will the position versus time
graph of a mass on a spring look like?

Assume we release the mass at point A.

x
The mass goes back and A
forth between A and –A.
What is the functional form? t
−A

Since it gradually slows down, it can’t be the triangle function.

However a cosine function will work.

6
 Mass on end of spring
2
d x
Newton’s 2 law F = ma can be written F = ma = m 2
nd
dt
The mass on the end of a spring experiences a force F = −kx
where we assume the origin is at the equilibrium point.
d2x
Setting these equations equal to each other: m 2 = −kx
dt
d2x k
Dividing both sides by m: 2
=− x
dt m
This is a differential equation. The secret to solving many
differential equations is guessing the answer and proving it works.

We are going to guess that x = A cos (ω t + φ )

7
 Clicker question 2 Set frequency to BA
dx
What is v = for x = A cos (ω t + φ ) ?
dt
A.  Asin (ω t ) First, need to know d cosθ = −sin θ
B.  Aω sin (ω t ) dθ
C.  Asin (ω t + φ ) Second, need chain rule:
dy dy du
=
D. −Asin (ω t + φ ) dx du dx
E.  −Aω sin (ω t + φ ) dx dx dθ
For this problem: =
dt dθ dt
dx d ! # d dθ
v= = " A cos (ω t + φ )$ = [ A cosθ ] ⋅ = (−Asinθ ) (ω )
dt dt dθ dt
= −Aω sin (ω t + φ )
Can also calculate acceleration
d2x d " d dθ
a = 2 = #−Aω sin (ω t + φ )$% = [ −Aω sin θ ] ⋅ = −Aω 2 cos (ω t + φ )
dt dt dθ dt
 Mass on a spring
d2x k
We want a solution to the equation 2
=− x
dt m
We now know that for x = A cos (ω t + φ )
d2x 2 2
2
= −Aω cos (ω t + φ ) = −ω x
dt
k
So this is a solution as long as ω =
m

Note that the constants A and φ are not determined by

the equations of motion. They will be determined by the
initial conditions of the problem.

9
 Mass on a spring
k
What does the motion of x = A cos (ω t + φ ) with ω = look like?
m
Cosine function oscillates
between -1 and 1.

A
A

0
The factor A (amplitude) multiplies
−A cosine and sets the maximum
displacement that the oscillator
reaches from the equilibrium point.

10
 k
What does the motion of x = A cos (ω t + φ ) with ω = m
look like?

ω is the angular frequency (rad/s). It ω = 1 rad/s

sets how quickly the system oscillates.

The time it takes ω t to increase by 2π

(a complete cycle) is the period T

The frequency f is how many cycles

are completed per second. f = 1 / T. ω = 2 rad/s
Frequency SI unit is hertz (Hz). Units
of cycles/second or s-1 are also used.

Note that ω = 2π f = 2π / T.

11
 k
What does the motion of x = A cos (ω t + φ ) with ω = m look like?

The phase φ determines where along the φ =0

cosine curve the oscillator starts (at t=0).

For φ = 0 the oscillator starts at x = A.

For φ = π the oscillator starts at x = − A .

For φ = π / 2 the oscillator starts at x = 0

and moving in the –x direction. φ = π /2

For φ = −π / 2 the oscillator starts at x = 0

and moving in the +x direction.

12
Clicker question 3 Set frequency to BA
The solid curve is a graph of x = A cos (ω t ) . The dotted curve is a
graph of x = A cos (ω t + φ ) where φ is a phase constant whose
magnitude is less than π/2. Is φ positive, negative or zero?
A.  φ<0 x
B.  φ>0
C.  φ=0 Hint: Remember that cosθ
t
has a maximum at θ=0.
We observe a maximum at ωt slightly greater than 0.

The maximum value for cosθ is at θ = 0, ±2π, ±4π, ±6π,…

So we need ωt+φ = 0, ±2π, ±4π,…

Since ωt is only slightly
greater than 0 and |φ|<π/2 we need ωt+φ =0. Since ωt>0, φ<0.
13
 Mass on end of spring
Position versus time: x = A cos (ω t + φ ) −A 0 A
By taking derivatives we can also
get velocity and acceleration:
dx d2x
v= = −Aω sin (ω t + φ ) a = 2 = −Aω 2 cos (ω t + φ )
dt dt
Note position & velocity are 90° out of phase so when position
is a maximum, v=0 and when velocity is a maximum, x=0.

ω = 1 rad/s ω = 1 rad/s