Lecture Outlines

Chapter 13

Physics, 3rd Edition

James S. Walker

2007 Pearson Prentice Hall

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 Chapter 13
Oscillations about
Equilibrium
 Units of Chapter 13

Periodic Motion
Simple Harmonic Motion
Connections between Uniform Circular
Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion
The Period of a Mass on a Spring
Energy Conservation in Oscillatory
Motion
 Units of Chapter 13

The Pendulum
Damped Oscillations
Driven Oscillations and Resonance
 13-1 Periodic Motion
Period: time required for one cycle of periodic
motion
Frequency: number of oscillations per unit time

This unit is
called the Hertz:
 13-2 Simple Harmonic Motion
A spring exerts a restoring force that is
proportional to the displacement from
equilibrium:
 13-2 Simple Harmonic Motion
A mass on a spring has a displacement as a
function of time that is a sine or cosine curve:
Here, A is called
the amplitude of
the motion.
 13-2 Simple Harmonic Motion
If we call the period of the motion T this is the
time to complete one full cycle we can write
the position as a function of time:

It is then straightforward to show that the

position at time t + T is the same as the
position at time t, as we would expect.
13-3 Connections between Uniform Circular
Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion

An object in simple
harmonic motion has the
same motion as one
component of an object
in uniform circular
motion:
13-3 Connections between Uniform Circular
Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion

Here, the object in circular motion has an

angular speed of

where T is the period of motion of the

object in simple harmonic motion.
13-3 Connections between Uniform Circular
Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion

The position as a function of time:

The angular frequency:

13-3 Connections between Uniform Circular
Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion
The velocity as a function of time:

And the acceleration:

Both of these are found by taking

components of the circular motion quantities.
 13-4 The Period of a Mass on a Spring
Since the force on a mass on a spring is
proportional to the displacement, and also to
the acceleration, we find that .
Substituting the time dependencies of a and x
gives
 13-4 The Period of a Mass on a Spring

Therefore, the period is

 13-5 Energy Conservation in Oscillatory
Motion
In an ideal system with no nonconservative
forces, the total mechanical energy is
conserved. For a mass on a spring:

Since we know the position and velocity as

functions of time, we can find the maximum
kinetic and potential energies:
 13-5 Energy Conservation in Oscillatory
Motion
As a function of time,

So the total energy is constant; as the

kinetic energy increases, the potential
energy decreases, and vice versa.
13-5 Energy Conservation in Oscillatory
Motion
This diagram shows how the energy
transforms from potential to kinetic and
back, while the total energy remains the
same.
 13-6 The Pendulum
A simple pendulum consists of a mass m (of
negligible size) suspended by a string or rod of
length L (and negligible mass).
The angle it makes with the vertical varies with
time as a sine or cosine.
 13-6 The Pendulum

Looking at the forces

on the pendulum bob,
we see that the
restoring force is
proportional to sin ,
whereas the restoring
force for a spring is
proportional to the
displacement (which
is in this case).
 13-6 The Pendulum
However, for small angles, sin and are
approximately equal.
 13-6 The Pendulum
Substituting for sin allows us to treat the
pendulum in a mathematically identical way to
the mass on a spring. Therefore, we find that the
period of a pendulum depends only on the
length of the string:
 13-6 The Pendulum

A physical pendulum is a
solid mass that oscillates
around its center of mass,
but cannot be modeled as a
point mass suspended by a
massless string. Examples:
 13-6 The Pendulum

In this case, it can be shown that the period

depends on the moment of inertia:

Substituting the moment of inertia of a point

mass a distance l from the axis of rotation
gives, as expected,
 13-7 Damped Oscillations
In most physical situations, there is a
nonconservative force of some sort, which will
tend to decrease the amplitude of the
oscillation, and which is typically proportional
to the speed:

This causes the amplitude to decrease

exponentially with time:
 13-7 Damped Oscillations
This exponential decrease is shown in the
figure:
13-7 Damped Oscillations

The previous image shows a system that is

underdamped it goes through multiple
oscillations before coming to rest. A critically
damped system is one that relaxes back to the
equilibrium position without oscillating and in
minimum time; an overdamped system will
also not oscillate but is damped so heavily
that it takes longer to reach equilibrium.
 13-8 Driven Oscillations and Resonance
An oscillation can be driven by an oscillating
driving force; the frequency of the driving force
may or may not be the same as the natural
frequency of the system.
 13-8 Driven Oscillations and Resonance

If the driving frequency

is close to the natural
frequency, the
amplitude can become
quite large, especially
if the damping is small.
This is called
resonance.
 Summary of Chapter 13
Period: time required for a motion to go
through a complete cycle
Frequency: number of oscillations per unit time
Angular frequency:

Simple harmonic motion occurs when the

restoring force is proportional to the
displacement from equilibrium.
 Summary of Chapter 13
The amplitude is the maximum displacement
from equilibrium.
Position as a function of time:

Velocity as a function of time:

 Summary of Chapter 13
Acceleration as a function of time:

Period of a mass on a spring:

Total energy in simple harmonic motion:

 Summary of Chapter 13
Potential energy as a function of time:

Kinetic energy as a function of time:

A simple pendulum with small amplitude

exhibits simple harmonic motion
 Summary of Chapter 13
Period of a simple pendulum:

Period of a physical pendulum:

 Summary of Chapter 13

Oscillations where there is a nonconservative

force are called damped.
Underdamped: the amplitude decreases
exponentially with time:

Critically damped: no oscillations; system

relaxes back to equilibrium in minimum time
Overdamped: also no oscillations, but
slower than critical damping
 Summary of Chapter 13
An oscillating system may be driven by an
external force
This force may replace energy lost to friction,
or may cause the amplitude to increase greatly
at resonance
Resonance occurs when the driving frequency
is equal to the natural frequency of the system