Simple Harmonic Motion Ken Akiki Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106-7079 Abstract: We first

measured an oscillating spring in translation simple harmonic motion in order to determine how amplitude and mass effects angular frequency. The small amplitude oscillation was 7.55 0.01 rad/s, and the large amplitude oscillation was 7.57 0.01 rad/s; these values were within two standard deviations of one another, and we therefore concluded that amplitude did not affect angular acceleration. We predicted that adding mass to the system would change the angular frequency, however. We predicted that adding a certain mass to the system would lower the angular frequency to be 0.01 rad/s. The actual measured angular frequency was 5.98 0.01 rad/s, which is within one standard deviation of the calculated value and validates our theory. The second part of the lab dealt with rotational simple harmonic motion. We calculated the torsion modulus of a rod that suspended a plate and compared this to known torsion moduli of various metals. We found that our obtained value of 4.34 * 1010 1.08 * 1010 N/m2 compared with copper at 4.24 * 1010 N/m2. We also found that a 1% error in the measurement of the rods diameter amounted to a 4% error in the calculated torsion modulus.

Part I: Translational Simple Harmonic Motion: Intro and Theory: The force exhibited by a spring being compressed or extended from its equilibrium postion (the position at which no force is being applied to the spring) from distance xo by a distance x can be expressed by ( ) (1) where k is the spring constant. Using Newtons Second Law, we know that the acceleration of a mass m attached to a spring is (2) We know that acceleration is the second derivative of distance, so we can say that the equation of motion is ( ) ( ) (3)
( )

and the general solution of this equation can be found to be ( ) (4)

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where is the phase angle of oscillation and is the angular frequency, expressed by ( ) (5). Equation 4 represents a sinusoidal oscillation, where is the max amplitude and xo is the equilibrium position of the spring. Angular frequency can be related to linear frequency where where f is the frequency and T is the oscillation period. Equations 1-5 can be credited to Reference 1. Procedure: The first part of the lab was set up according to the figure to the left, courtesy of Reference 1: A mass m, which was measured to be 50 g with no uncertainty, was hung from a spring that was attached to a rod that held the spring in place. Below the spring-mass system was a motion sensor that recorded the oscillations of the spring based on the relative position of the mass. We first tested the motion sensor to see what distances it could read, and to make sure that it read correctly. We then took data using LoggerPro; we stretched the spring a few centimeters from equilibrium position and then released the mass, allowing the system to oscillate. The graph of the motion produced a sinusoidal curve. We then estimated what we thought the amplitude, angular frequency, equilibrium position, and phase angle would be using some of the relationships we determined from Equations 1-5. We then plugged these values into Equation 4 and graphed this equation with the actual collected data. Through much trial and error, we found a graph that was close to the data produced. We then had LoggerPro produce a best fit sin wave on top of the measured and calculated graphs. All of these graphs can be found in the attached Translational Simple Harmonic Motion graph, at the back of this report. LoggerPros sinusoidal curve was much better than the curve we could produce, but did not give us the error in this curve, the uncertainty in . In order to find this, we took data from 3 other trials, recording a from each. This allowed us to get a mean value of , 7.57 rad/s. We then tested the relationship between angular frequency and amplitude. We pulled the spring down more than we had for the other tests, with the same mass, and came up with a value 2 = 7.57 rad/s. Finally, we tested the relationship of mass and angular frequency. We added an additional 30 g to the hanger (for a total of 80 g), pulled down the mass the same distance for the regular trials, and found 3 to be 5.98 rad/s. Analysis: As stated above, we calculated a mean value for from Origin; this was 7.55 rad/s. We estimated the uncertainty to be 0.01 rad/s, and the error in the mean value was 0.07 rad/s. Comparing the our small amplitude frequency of 7.57 0.01 rad/s with our high amplitude measurement 2 of 7.57 0.01 rad/s, we found that these values fit within two standard deviations.

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We can predict the change in frequency due to the change is mass by finding the spring constant, k, and its uncertainty. From this then, we can predict the angular frequency p and its uncertainty. Using Equation 5, we can find k: ( ) ( ( ) ( ) ( ) )

From this we can find the uncertainty in k:

| | )( ( )( ) 2 k as an interval is 2.87 0.01 kg/s . From k and its uncertainty we can find the uncertainty in the predicted angular frequency p. ( ) |( ) |
( ) ( )

The interval of p would be 5.99 0 .01 rad/s. From these calculations we can compare our predicted value with the data we acquired using 30 g of extra weight. The measured value of 5.98 rad/s comes within one standard deviation of the predicted value. Part II: Rotational Simple Harmonic Motion: Intro and Theory: An object such as an elastic metal rod wishes to restore itself after being twisted; this restorative force is called torque. Torque is this relationship between a materials torsion constant, kt, and the angle at which something is rotated, . The equation can be expressed by (6) By using Newtons Second Law of Motion in terms of rotation, this expression can be re-written as (7) where I is the moment of the inertia of the object that is being rotated, and is the rotational acceleration of the object. Combining equations 6 and 7 gives 3 Ken Akiki Simple Harmonic Motion

(8) by using the fact that the angular acceleration is the second derivative of the angular translation with respect to time, Equation 8 can be rewritten to express ( ) (9)

This method is similar to the equations used in the translation experiment, so a similar general solution can be found as shown: ( Where m is the max amplitude of oscillation, and = of equation 9 only if ( ) (11) ) (10) . Equation 10 can be a solution

This equation then allows the torsion constant to be calculated from measurements of the period of oscillation and the moment of inertia of the plate. Assuming the plate is a solid cylinder, the moment of inertia can be said to be (12) Where M is the mass of the plate and R is the radius. It can be noted that the formulae for rotational harmonic motion are analogous with those for translational harmonic motion; the concepts are generally the same. The torsion modulus of the rod can be determined from the rods shape and material. The relation is (13) where n is the torsion modulus, A is the rods cross-sectional area, and L is the rods length. Equations 6 13 are also courtesy of Reference 1. Procedure: This experiment was set up as shown to the left: This figure is courtesy of Reference 1. A plate that we determined was made of grey iron was attached to a rod of yet undetermined material. The diameter of the plate was determined to be 0.26 0.01 m, the length of the rod 1.00 0.01 m. The diameter of the rod was measured using Vernier calipers, and was measured to be 0.0054 0.0001 m. We twisted the plate that then twisted the rod and released it, allowing the system to oscillate. A 4 Ken Akiki Simple Harmonic Motion

photo gate measured when a nail that was driven into the plate passed through it, measuring the period. Analysis: We first made a histogram of the measured periods of oscillation by importing data into Origin and running statistics. This histogram is located at the back of the report, and is entitled Histogram of Torsion Pendulum. We determined from this histogram the mean period T = 0.634 s, the standard deviation = 0.03 s, and the standard error = 0.001 s. The Gaussian curve of this histogram was graphed, and the equation for it was 3*exp(-(x-0.634)2/(2*0.032). The histogram shows that this was a pretty good fit. Earlier we made the assumption that the plate was a solid cylinder, and the predicted moment of inertia I could be calculated using Equation 12. Its uncertainty can also be found using the derivative method.

( | ( | ( (

)( | ) ( | )( )(

) ( ) ) )( ) 0.001 kg*m2

Ip as an interval is 0.038 0.001 kg*m2 From here, we can calculate the torsion constant kt from the calculated value of I and Equation 11 and its linear relationships. We also found the uncertainty in these measurements. ( ) ( ), ( | ( ) | ( ) )( ( ) ) ( ) ( )

The torsion constant can be written as the interval 3.62 0.86 N*m. We can now solve for n, the torsion modulus, now that use kt for Equation 13.

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( ( (

)(

) ) )

From here the uncertainty in n can be calculated. The uncertainties in the length of the rod, the torsion constant, and the area (through the radius) are considered. | | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) ( ) ( )( ) | |
(

( (
( )( )

)( )
)

) ( )

( ) The torsion modulus as an interval is then 4.34 * 1010 1.08 * 1010 N/m2. The next step is to show that a 1% error in the diameter of the rod yields a 4% error in the torsion modulus:
( )

* * +

From this it can be said that a 1% error in diameter gives way to a 4% error in the torsion modulus. Conclusion: For the first part of the lab dealing with translational simple harmonic motion, it was determined that amplitude does not affect angular frequency. The mean angular frequency of our measured small amplitude oscillations was 7.55 0.01 rad/s, and the large amplitude oscillation angular frequency was 7.57 0.01 rad/s. These values were within two standard deviations, and therefore fit the theory. Based on Equation 5, we found that not amplitude but mass would affect the angular frequency of the system. From this conjecture we could make a prediction about the angular frequency change if mass were added. When an additional 30 grams of mass was added to the system (making the total mass 80 grams), we calculated 3 to be 5.99 0.01 rad/s. We took data 6 Ken Akiki Simple Harmonic Motion

and compared this to our actual value of 5.98 0.01 rad/s. These values were off by one standard deviation, fortifying the theory. We attribute any error in this experiment to the ability of the equipment to read the oscillations, any external movement affecting the motion sensor which we may not have caught. The second part of the experiment dealt with rotational simple harmonic motion. We calculate the torsion modulus of the rod and then compared our calculated value with actual values of various materials. We compared our calculated value of 4.34 * 1010 1.08 * 1010 N/m2 with Table 2 of Reference 1, and found that our interval compared with copper, which has an actual torsion modulus of 4.24 * 1010 N/m2. Although our error is fairly large, it does not fall within any other torsion moduli, so we can safely say that our rod was indeed copper. The error in this portion of that lab was expected to be large; partly because of swaying that the system exhibited in rotation that may have altered the actual period of the system, and more so in measuring the diameter of the rod; although we were using Vernier calipers, any very slight error was compounded to the 4th power in calculations, giving the 4% error per 1% as shown above. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Heath Hudgins, CWRU Department of Physics, for his help in obtaining the experimental data and preparing the figures. References 1. Driscoll, D. and Deissler, R., Physics 121 Lab Manual: Mechanics, CWRU Bookstore, Spring 2011.

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