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Conceptual questions

What conditions must be met to produce simple harmonic motion?

(a) If frequency is not constant for some oscillation, can the oscillation be simple harmonic motion?

(b) Can you think of any examples of harmonic motion where the frequency may depend on the amplitude?

Give an example of a simple harmonic oscillator, specifically noting how its frequency is independent of amplitude.

Explain why you expect an object made of a stiff material to vibrate at a higher frequency than a similar object made of a spongy material.

As you pass a freight truck with a trailer on a highway, you notice that its trailer is bouncing up and down slowly. Is it more likely that the trailer is heavily loaded or nearly empty? Explain your answer.

Some people modify cars to be much closer to the ground than when manufactured. Should they install stiffer springs? Explain your answer.

Problems&Exercises

A type of cuckoo clock keeps time by having a mass bouncing on a spring, usually something cute like a cherub in a chair. What force constant is needed to produce a period of 0.500 s for a 0.0150-kg mass?

2 . 37 N/m size 12{2 "." "37"`"N/m"} {}

If the spring constant of a simple harmonic oscillator is doubled, by what factor will the mass of the system need to change in order for the frequency of the motion to remain the same?

A 0.500-kg mass suspended from a spring oscillates with a period of 1.50 s. How much mass must be added to the object to change the period to 2.00 s?

0.389 kg

By how much leeway (both percentage and mass) would you have in the selection of the mass of the object in the previous problem if you did not wish the new period to be greater than 2.01 s or less than 1.99 s?

Suppose you attach the object with mass m size 12{"m"} {} to a vertical spring originally at rest, and let it bounce up and down. You release the object from rest at the spring’s original rest length. (a) Show that the spring exerts an upward force of 2.00 mg on the object at its lowest point. (b) If the spring has a force constant of 10 . 0 N/m size 12{"10" "." 0`"N/m"} {} and a 0.25-kg-mass object is set in motion as described, find the amplitude of the oscillations. (c) Find the maximum velocity.

A diver on a diving board is undergoing simple harmonic motion. Her mass is 55.0 kg and the period of her motion is 0.800 s. The next diver is a male whose period of simple harmonic oscillation is 1.05 s. What is his mass if the mass of the board is negligible?

94.7 kg

Suppose a diving board with no one on it bounces up and down in a simple harmonic motion with a frequency of 4.00 Hz. The board has an effective mass of 10.0 kg. What is the frequency of the simple harmonic motion of a 75.0-kg diver on the board?

The figure shows a little kid, about ten to twelve months old, standing in a toy jolly jumper, which is tied to the ceiling hook by its four spring belts.
This child’s toy relies on springs to keep infants entertained. (credit: By Humboldthead, Flickr)

The device pictured in [link] entertains infants while keeping them from wandering. The child bounces in a harness suspended from a door frame by a spring constant.

(a) If the spring stretches 0.250 m while supporting an 8.0-kg child, what is its spring constant?

(b) What is the time for one complete bounce of this child? (c) What is the child’s maximum velocity if the amplitude of her bounce is 0.200 m?

A 90.0-kg skydiver hanging from a parachute bounces up and down with a period of 1.50 s. What is the new period of oscillation when a second skydiver, whose mass is 60.0 kg, hangs from the legs of the first, as seen in [link] .

The figure shows two skydivers midway through the air, with both with open having their parachutes open.
The oscillations of one skydiver are about to be affected by a second skydiver. (credit: U.S. Army, www.army.mil)

1.94 s

Practice Key Terms 3

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Source:  OpenStax, Physics 101. OpenStax CNX. Jan 07, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11479/1.1
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