http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/oscillations.htm#Damped http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/dB.htm http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/sound.spectrum.

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Frequency f and angular frequency

We saw above that x = A sin (t + ), where 2 = k/m . The cyclic frequency is f = 1/T, where T is the period. The sine function goes through one complete cycle when its argument increases by 2, so we require that ((t+T) + ) (t + ) = 2, so T = 2, so = 2/T = 2f = (k/m) . This parameter is determined by the system: the particular mass and spring used. For a linear system, the frequency is independent of amplitude (see below, however, a for nonlinear system ). Compare the oscillations shown in the two clips at right. The first uses one air track glider and the second uses two similar gliders, so the mass is doubled. The period is increased by about 40%, i.e. by a factor of 2, so the frequency is decreased by the same factor.

Though it is not so easy to see in the video, at right we have used stiffer springs with a higher value of k. Here the period is shorter and therefore the frequency higher that in all the previous examples.

Mechanical Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion

Because we know x, the displacement from equilibrium, we know the potential energy U, which is just that of a linear spring. Taking the zero of potential energy at x = 0, U = kx2. Here, x = A sin (t + ) so U = kx2 = k A2 sin2 (t + ). Because we know v, the velocity in the x direction, we know the kinetic energy K. v = A cos (t + ) so K = mv2 = m 2A2 cos2 (t + ). Adding kinetic and potential energies gives the mechanical energy, E. Using the expressions above, and substituting 2 = k/m , we have E = U + K = kx2 + mv2 = kA2 cos2 (t + ) + k A2 sin2 (t + ). Now we can use the identity sin2 + cos2 = 1, which gives E = U + K = kA2, which is a constant: it does not depend on time. This is because of the air track: here, no non-negligible nonconservative forces act, so mechanical energy is conserved. U (in purple, like x), K (in red, like v) and E (in black) are shown as functions of time in the animated graph at right: the mechanical energy is continuously exchanged between potential and kinetic. At the extrema of the motion, where |x| = A, the velocity is zero, so when |x| = A, K = 0 and U = Umax = kA2 = E. At equilbrium, x = 0 so U = 0 and so when x = 0, U = 0 and K = Kmax = E. But Kmax = mv2, so Kmax = mvmax2 = kA2 = Umax = E.

A mass m hangs from a light, inextensible string of length L, which is large+ compared to the dimensions of the mass, so the mass can be considered as a particle. The horizontal

displacement of m from the position of equilibrium is x, and the string makes an angle with the vertical, as shown in the sketch. For the moment, we consider only the case in which is small, so x << L. Applying Newton's second law in the vertical upwards direction, we have* |T| cos mg = may Because is small, the vertical acceleration ay is negligible. Further, cos , which may be expanded as cos 1 2 +..., is approximately 1. So the magnitude |T| of the tension in the string is approximately mg. Applying Newton's second law in the horizontal direction, |T| sin = max = m d2x/dt2. Then we write sin = x/L. Substituting this in the preceding equation and rearranging gives d2x/dt2 = (g/L)x or d2x/dt2 = 2 x, where we define 2 = g/L.

This, of course, is the differential equation we have solved above and elsewhere. Its solution is x = A sin (t + ), where = (g/L) Writing T as the period (not to be confused with the magnitude of the tension |T|), we write 1/T = f = /2 = (1/2)(g/L). Here, the potential energy is gravitational. If we take the lowest point of the pendulum (y = 0) as the reference of U, then, making the same substitutions as above, U = mgy = mgL(1 cos ) mgL(1 (1 2)) U mgx2. The energy terms are illustrated with histograms at right. The reference for potential energy is arbitrary, as we have suggested in the animation.
+

so

The importance of this condition is that its rotational kinetic energy can be neglected in comparison with its translational kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy. We shall also neglect the slow rotation of the earth. * Notice that, in this equation, we have used the symbol 'm' in two conceptually different ways: the m in mg is the gravitational mass, the quantity that interacts with gravitational fields. The m in ma is the inertial mass, the quantity that resists acceleration. See this link for more discussion.

The nonlinear pendulum

Pendulums are easy to make and their periods can be measured accurately. Further, because they are only simple harmonic oscillators in the small angle approximation analysed above, they provide a good system for showing the effects of nonlinearity. That is the purpose of the movie clips below, which show how, for the nonlinear oscillator, the period varies with amplitude and, at large amplitudes, the motion is not sinusoidal.

http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/oscillations.htm#Damped Damped Oscillations

In practice, nonconservative forces are usually present, so mechanical energy is lost over each cycle. The type of loss that is most commonly analysed is that produced by a force proportional to the velocity, but in the opposite direction.
Analysing that case in one dimension, we would write Floss = bv = b dx/dt. Let's add this term to the analysis given above. Newton's second law is F = m.d2x/dt2 , which gives the differential equation m.d2x/dt2 = kx b dx/dt, or d2x/dt2 + 2 dx/dt + 02 x = 0 , where 02 = k/m and = b/2m.

We can verify by subsitution that this differential equation has a solution x = A et sin (t + ), where 2 = 02 2. So, for this particular damping force, we should expect an oscillation whose amplitude decreases exponentially with time.

Forces proportional to velocity arise from the viscosity of simple Newtonian fluids, if motion is sufficiently slow. However, losses encountered in nature are frequently more complicated. In the case below, the pendulum is mounted on a roller bearing. The loss force in this case has a dependence on v that is less strong than proportionality.

Let's be quantitative, by adding an external force (F0 sin t) to our previous analysis, which yields the equation d2x/dt2 + 2 dx/dt + 02 x = (1/m) F0 sin t . where again 0 = k/m. As written, this equation applies to an external force applied over a very long time: we have made no mention of when and how the force starts. So let's consider what happens in the quiescent state, the state over which the average work being done by (F0 sin t)

equals the average rate at which energy is being dissipated by the nonconservative force (Floss = bv = (2/m) dx/dt). We can verify by substitution that the solution to this equation is x = A sin (t + ), where A = (F0 /m) (2 02)2 + (2)2 and where tan = 2/(1 (/0)2). Note that, in this quiescent state, the amplitude is large if 0 0 and if the loss term, , is small, i.e. if dissipative forces are not doing work at a large rate. At resonance (i.e. when = 0), the amplitude is A = F0/2m. Sometimes the loss term, , is hard to measure directly, so instead we measure the Quality factor, Q, defined as Q = 0/, the ratio of the resonant frequency to the bandwidth, where is the difference between the frequencies that give half maximum power, or amplitudes reduced by 2. Using the expression above for A, the half power points occur when 2 02 = 2. Solving this quadratic gives = (2+02). For reasonably high Q, i.e. when << 0, we can use the binomial expansion to give 0(1/0), which gives 20/Q. This then gives the amplitude at resonance as A0 F0Q/4m02 = F0/4m0. This makes qualitative sense: the amplitude is obviously large for large F and small m, it is small at high frequency when there is not enough time per cycle to displace it much, and large if the resonance is strong, i.e. if the Q factor is high or the bandwidth low. These expressions apply to a system with linear losses, where the dissipative force is proportional to velocity, as is the case for vicosity. The nonlinear losses that one often meets in practice yield equations that (e.g. dynamic drag) are rather more difficult to solve and are not treated here. In the equation above, is the phase by which x(t) is ahead of F(t). At low frequency ( << 0), is near zero: negligible force is required to accelerate the mass, so the driving force simply pushes the spring: F = kx. Conversely, at high frequency ( >> 0), is near 180 and the force and displacement are in antiphase. At resonance ( = 0), = 90 and the driving force is in phase with the velocity. We do not discuss here the transient behaviour: the way a system responds when the external force is 'turned on' or 'turned off'. Examples are shown, however, in the movie clips above.