Mass Spring

Systems
in Everyday Life
By: Rachel Prawitt

Modeling the Motion of a

Spring
There

is a weight attached to a string

that is suspended from a horizontal bar
it is attached to.

Where is Equilibrium?
Cosine

Sine function also

called Equilibrium

Cosine

If we neglect any damping forces

(such as air resistance etc.) then, the motion
of the spring can be modeled by:

Where x(t) is the position of the object along the

number line at time t. The other quantities are
constants: w is a constant that depends on the stiffness
of the spring and the mass of the weight, v0 is the initial
velocity, and x0 is the initial position of the object.

 Suppose

a weight is set into motion from a

position of 3 cm below equilibrium position with a
downward velocity of 4cm/sec. Assume that the
spring stiffness and mass of the weight means
that w=2 for this system.

When I graphed this by hand it

looks like this:

When I used my graphing calculator to

graph this equation it looks like this:

How do I write an equation from

the graph my calculator came up
with in the form of x(t)=Acos[B(tC)]

X(t)=3.60[2(t0.27)]

What are the differences between my

sketched graph and the calculators
graph? Why were they different?
The graph I drew is only showing the Cosine and the Sine graph
combined. The values for the period are the same.
The difference is that the amplitude ended up being 0.6 more than I
had figured out previously because of the min & max locations of their
slopes. This is really hard to determine without a graphing calculator.
You get the amplitude from adding the sine and cosine values together
at a certain point on the graph. Because of the way the slopes of sine
and cosine arent straight up or down they sort of progress this makes
it possible for them to be added to equal 0.6 more than what the
actual amplitude of the sine and cosine have individually. It is a small
enough thing to be hard to notice when you are just hand sketching a
graph like this.

Why do we care about

Mass Spring Systems?
We

care about this system because we use it

everyday, most of the time we do this without
even realizing it.

What are some simple examples of

Mass Spring Systems we use?
Shocks

in a vehicle
Makes up many mattresses
Used for a bungee jump cord
Makes a trampoline fun to bounce on
Makes up a pogo stick

Springs in a Mattress

Shocks in a vehicle..

What is a complex example of a Mass

Spring System that I would use in My
field of Study?
I

would love to one day design guns. I am

studying to be an engineer and I think many guns
have some sort of a mass spring system in them.

Example in a Gun..

Reflection
I never realized how much we use mass-spring systems in everyday
life. For example, vehicles have shocks or spring systems that enable us
to experience a comfortable drive. What I mean by that is the shocks
are able to absorb any bumps, dips, vibrations or whatever else we may
hit in the road. Another example of this would be when I take my Razor
up to the dunes and do some crazy jump, landing back on the ground
after this big jump isnt painful, most of the time, because of the shocks.
The reason I say most of the time is because if the jump is way too big
or if the shocks arent the best quality of stiffness then the amplitude of
the bounce from landing the jump can increase.
The way the mass- spring system works is when the system is set
in motion, the springs amplitude shifts higher or lower. The amplitude
change, then causes the spring to obviously be displaced from its
equilibrium. The spring then just fluctuates back and forth within the
period until it reaches its equilibrium again. The frequency of this
fluctuation happening or in my previous example, how often the razor is
jumped at the dunes, doesnt affect the way the fluctuation takes place.
I think it is important for me to understand the way this system works
because I am seeking a degree in Engineering and understanding this is
important when trying to understand the physics of the world and the
way things are engineered.

Reflection
Another example of a mass-spring system I have discovered I
use every day is in bed. Many mattresses have a mass-spring
system in them, the damping and springs equilibrium is what varies
in mattresses making it possible to provide the perfect mattress
stiffness for every seeking individual. It is important for mattress
manufactures to understand the way this mass-spring system works
so that they can make and sale many different types of mattresses.
It is also important for the rest of the world to understand this so we
are able to understand the selling points that the mattress
manufacture is making. Also, its helpful for us to understand why
certain types of mattresses are more beneficial and comfortable to
some people when they arent to others.

Reflection
At the beginning of this project I understood that trigonometry
is used in the real world. However, doing this signature project I
came to find out that it is used a lot more often than I foreseen.
Having to find specific examples in everyday life of when this massspring system is used was crazy to me to think how important it is.
Specifically, if my car didnt have shocks I couldnt imagine how
bumpy of a ride I would have to encounter. I never realized until I
did this assignment and calculated a mass-spring system myself,
that in order to have the shocks on my car work correctly, someone
else had to understand this same mass-spring system to design
them. I have a friend who had bad shocks on his car and he went
through 2 sets of tires in just a couple of months before they figured
out the issue. I also have recently learned that even if you are just
some kid out going bungee jumping you need to understand this
system because if you dont understand it you may calculate the
length of the bungee cord to be too long once the spring is
displaced and not have the opportunity to go back and correct it
because the displacement caused you to fall flat to the ground.

Modeling of a
Spring System
Assignment Math
1060 Trigonometry