MT121: Week 3 Questions

Oscillatory Motion

Question 1 : One end of a spring, natural length l and spring constant k, is suspended
from a fixed point. The other end is attached to a mass m, and is found to be at a
position l + x below that point. If the spring is subject to a resistive force of strength
b dx
dt for b > 0, the differential equation describing the motion of the particle is

d2 x
(a) dt2+ b dx
dt + kx = mg
Be careful with factors of m!
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(b) ddt2x + mb dx k
dt + m x = g
d2 x
(c) dt2+ b dx
dt + kx = 0
This is the equation if x is displacement from the equilibrium position, which is
how the problem is commonly set up, but that’s not what the question asked.
d2 x
(d) dt2 + b dx
dt + kx = kl

Question 2 : What is the amplitude of these oscillations?

(a) 7
This is the magnitude of the most negative value, but things are not symmetric
about 0.
(b) 5
(c) 3
This is the largest positive value, but things are not symmetric about 0.
(d) -7
Amplitude is a positive value.
√
(e) 57

Question 3 : What is the period of these oscillations?

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(a) 3
π
(b) 3
2π
(c) 3
4π
(d) 3
13π
(e) 18
Be careful to measure the distance between two maxima. The first is not at t = 0.

Question 4 : What is the phase of these oscillations?

π
(a) 18
This is the time offset of the maximum, but this is unscaled and meaningless unless
you also know about the period.
(b) π
6
(c) − 18
π

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(d) 12
This is the ratio of the offset to the period. You’ve missed the factor of 2π in the
definition.
7π
(e) 18

Question 5 : The following two functions describe the same oscillations:

x(t) = 3 cos(2t) + 4 sin(2t) x(t) = 5 sin(2t + δ)

where tan δ = − 43 .
(a) TRUE
It is 5 cos(2t − δ), but that’s not what the question said.
(b) FALSE

Question 6 : If the solutions to the auxiliary equation for a differential equation

d2 x dx
2
+a + bx = 0
dt dt
are complex (a > 0), the solutions must display
(a) Oscillations of constant amplitude
(b) Oscillations with exponentially decaying amplitude
(c) Exponential decay, no oscillations
(d) Exponential growth: resonance

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 Question 7 : A mass m attached to a spring is subject to a total √force F = −kx − bẋ
where x is the displacement from the equilibrium position. If b = 8mk, what type of
motion does the particle exhibit?
(a) Underdamped motion
(b) Critically damped motion
(c) Overdamped motion
(d) Resonance

Question 8 : An oscillating system experiences a driving force which means that, at

long times, the oscillations obey
F0
x(t) =  cos(ωt + φ).
4β ω + (ω 2 − ω02 )2
2 2

For what driving frequency (ω) are the oscillations of maximum amplitude?

(a) ω 2 = ω02 − 2β 2
(b) ω = ±ω0
This is certainly a good approximation to where the oscillations are of maximum
amplitude, but is not the exact answer. You need to perform the optimisation
properly.
(c) ω = ω0
This is certainly a good approximation to where the oscillations are of maximum
amplitude, but is not the exact answer. You need to perform the optimisation
properly.
(d) ω = 0

2β 2
(e) ω = 1 − ω02

(f) I don’t know

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