Simple Harmonic Motion Worksheet

Mass-Spring System 1. When a family of four (total mass of 200 kg) stepped into their 1200 kg car, the cars springs compressed 5 cm. What is the spring constant of the cars springs assuming they act as one single spring?
Answer: 39,200 N/m

2. Imagine that you videotape the motion of a mass attached to a spring and measure the displacement x from the equilibrium position as a function of time t. When you plot position, velocity and acceleration as a function of time you get the following graphs.

a. b. c. d. e.

Find the amplitude. Find the period Find angular frequency. Find the magnitude of the maximum velocity. Find the magnitude of the maximum acceleration.

Answer: = 4 rad/s

3. When a 0.50 kg-object is attached to a vertically supported spring, it stretches 0.10 m. It is then pulled another 0.10 m from its new equilibrium position. Find the period, angular frequency, and displacement equation for this mass-spring system. Answer: T = 0.63 sec, = 9.9 rad/s, x (t) = 0.10 cost (9.9t)
4.

An object with mass m = 0.60 kg attached to a spring with k = 10 N/m vibrates back and forth along a horizontal frictionless surface. If the amplitude of the motion is 0.050 m, what is the velocity of the object when it is 0.010 m from the equilibrium position? Answer: 0.20 m/s

Simple Pendulum: 5. What length of string would be necessary to make a simple pendulum with a period of 10.0 s?
Answer: 24.8 m

6. On a planet with an unknown value of g, the period of a 0.65 m long pendulum is 2.8 s. What is g for the planet? Answer: 3.27 m/s2 7. A pendulum bob of mass m attached to a string of length L vibrates back and forth along a circular arc. (a) Draw an isolation diagram for the bob and show all the forces acting on it. (b) Write Newton's second law of

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Simple Harmonic Motion Worksheet

motion for the component of the force tangent to the path. (c) What is the frequency of its motion, using the symbols provided and universal constants?

General Problems: 8. Given x (t) = 0.01 m cos (0.02 t - /2). Find (a) the amplitude, (b) the period, (c) the frequency, and (d) the initial phase of the motion. Answer: xm = 0.01m, T = 100 s, f = 0.01 Hz, = /2 = equilibrium 9. A particle is executing simple harmonic motion. The displacement x as a function of time t is shown in the figure below. Find (a) the period, (b) amplitude, (c) equation of motion, (d) maximum velocity and (e) maximum acceleration.

Answer: T = 4.00 s, xm = 10 cm, x (t) = .10 m cos (1.57t), vmax = 0.16 m/s, amax = 0.25 m/s2

10. The motion of a particle is given by x (t) = 4.0 cm cos (t - /6). Find the velocity of the particle when x = 2.0 cm. Answer: v = 10.9 cm/s 11. A mass-less spring with spring constant k = 10.0 N/m is attached to an object of mass m = 0.300 kg. One third of the spring is cut off. What is the frequency of the oscillations when the "new" spring-mass is set into motion? Answer: f = 0.92 Hz 12. Figure 6 below is a plot of the potential energy of a mass-spring system. The total mechanical energy ET of the system = 0.200 J. Find (a) the potential energy PE and (b) the kinetic energy KE at x = 0.025 m. Find (c) the spring constant k and (d) the speed of the particle when x = 0.025 given that the mass of the object m = 0.30 kg. Find (e) the amplitude of the motion and (f) the maximum velocity of the object.

Answer: PE = 0.050 J, KE = 0.15 J, k = 160 N/m, v = 1 m/s, xm = 0.0500 m, vmax = 1.15 m/s

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