Part - II

Vibrations and waves

Topics to be covered
Kleppner & Kolenkow
Ch 4

Small oscillations in a bound system

Ch 10

Harmonic oscillator

A P French
Ch 3
Free vibrations of a physical system
Oscillations involving massive springs
Ch 4

Ch 2
Ch 5
Ch 6
Ch 8

Forced vibrations and resonance

The power absorbed by a driven oscillator
Super position of periodic motions
Coupled oscillators & normal modes
Progressive waves
Interference and diffraction

Small oscillations in a bound system

stability
Consider a one dimensional system (harmonic
oscillator)
Mass is displaced by a small amount by
applying a force f(x)
Work energy theorem
xb

Wba

f ( x)dx K

K a U b U a

xa

Ka + Kb = Ua + Ub = E, total energy

F = - (dU/dx)
Useful to analyze the stability of the system
from potential energy plot
For harmonic oscillator U = kx2/2, is a parabola
U (x)
(dU/dx) > 0
aF<0

(dU/dx) < 0
b
F>0
c
(dU/dx) = 0

Equilibrium position

(dU/dx) = 0 equilibrium is stable

U () = mgl (1- cos)

(dU/dx) = 0
Is it a stable
equilibrium ?
No

System is unstable at the top of potential energy

hill

System is stable at the bottom of potential energy

valley

Mathematically finding the stable equilibrium

Suppose dU/dx = 0 at x = x0

d2U/dx2 > 0
Stable

d2U/dx2 < 0
Unstable

d2U/dx2 = 0
Neutral

Look for higher derivatives

If all derivatives vanish U is a constant in a
region about x0

Energy diagrams: bound and unbound systems

Motion of a system can be found using energy
diagrams
For harmonic oscillator U = kx2/2
Motion is limited to the
region E U
x1 and x2 are the turning
points
It is a bound system

Energy
E

U (x)

K
x1

x0

x2

Behavior of the system if U does not increase

indefinitely
Ex: A particle experiencing the repulsive inverse
square law force, F (r) = A/r2
U = A/r
Closest
approach

Unbound system

Ex2: Interaction between two atoms

Lennard Jones potential
6
r0 12
r0
U 2
r
r

E > 0, the motion is

unbound and the
atoms are free to fly
E< 0, the motion is
bound, the atoms
never approach closer
than ra or move
farther than rb

van der
Waals
force

Small oscillations of a bound system

Nearly every bound system oscillates like a
harmonic oscillator if it is slightly perturbed
from its equilibrium
The energy diagram near the minimum U has
the parabolic shape of a harmonic oscillator
potential

Proof
A function f(x) can be expressed in Taylors series
about a point x0
1
f ( x ) f ( x0 ) ( x x0 ) f ( x0 ) ( x x0 ) 2 f ( x0 ) ........
2

U(r) about r0
dU
U r U r0 r r0
dr

r0

2
1
d
U
2
r r0
2
dr 2

.......
r0

U is a minimum at r0

dU
dr

0
r0

1
2d U
U r U r0 r r0
2
dr 2

.......
r0

For small displacements the terms beyond the

third in the power series can be neglected
2
1
d
U
2
U r U r0 r r0
2
dr 2

r0

2
1
d
U
2
U r U r0 r r0
2
2
dr

r0

1
2d U
U r constant r r0
2
dr 2

For simple harmonic oscillator

where x = (r r0)
1 2
U r constant kx
2

r0

Parabola
d 2U
k
2
dr

r0

Example 4.15 Molecular Vibrations

Suppose that 2 atoms of masses m1 and m2 are
bound together in a molecule with energy so low
that their separation is always close to equilibrium
value r0. With the parabola approximation find the
vibration frequency of the molecule.
Solution
Consider the 2 atoms to be connected by a spring
of equilibrium length r0 and spring constant k

m1r1 k r r0
m2 r2 k r r0
1
1
r r0
r2 r1 r k
m1 m2

k
r r r0

m1m2

m1 m2

k
r r r0

Analogous to the harmonic oscillator equation

d U
dr 2

r0

k
x x x0
m

Vibrational motion is a characteristic of all

molecules
Its frequency can be detected by identifying the
light, the molecule radiates near IR 3 x 1013 Hz

From frequency we can find the spring constant

d 2U
dr 2

r0

For HCl molecule the effective spring constant, k

= 500 N/m
For larger amplitudes the higher order terms in
the Taylors series deviates the oscillator from its
ideal behavior anharmonic oscillator
Shape of the energy curve depends on the
anharmnicities

All bound systems have potential energy

minimum at equilibrium
They behave like harmonic oscillator for small
oscillations
This approximation is applied to study the
internal motions in nuclei
From the total energy of the bound system,
we can find the frequency of small oscillations
E = constant
dE/dt = 0, gives the frequency of small
oscillations

Recap
Energy diagram
Stability
Bound and unbound systems
All bound systems have potential energy
minimum at equilibrium
They behave like harmonic oscillator for small
oscillations

Todays class
Teeter toy problem
Periodic motion
Vibratory / Oscillatory motion
Equ. of motion for different SHO
How to guess a solution for second order
differential equ. having constant coefficients

Teeter toy

Peg

Consider the oscillatory motion in the vertical

plane
What is the stable position (or) the position of
the hanging weights ?

L cos

l cos (+)

l cos (-)

U mg L cos l cos mg L cos l cos

U 2mg cos L l cos

At equilibrium

dU
2mg sin L l cos 0
d

=0

Stability
d 2U
2mg cos L l cos
2
d

At equilibrium

d 2U
d 2

2mg L l cos
0

For the second derivate to be positive

L l cos < 0 or L < l cos
Teeter toy will be
stable if the
weights hang
below the pivot

What is the frequency of oscillations ?

U 2mg cos L l cos

Stability condition, L < l cos

U 2mg cos l cos L

U () = - A cos, A> 0
2

U A1
.......
2

For small oscillations

1
U A A 2
2

1
K 2m s 2 2
2

1 2
K B
2

1
U A 2
2

1 2
K mv
2

1 2
U kx
2

g l cos L
s2