CVT Assignment

Relation between Harmonic Motion and notions related the word “harmonic”

Harmonic function, mathematical function of two variables having the property that its value at any
point is equal to the average of its values along any circle around that point, provided the function is
defined within the circle.

The fundamental harmonic functions are the sine and cosine functions.

Simple harmonic motion functions are solutions to second order differential equation.

What makes this self-evident is because the second derivative of sine(x) is a negative sine(x), because
simple harmonic functions are “cyclic” - they REPEAT and REFLECT.

In a “standing wave” the reflection of sine(x) is a negative sine(x) of equal value.

It is in the nature of solutions of second order differential equations to be cyclic, which means that
practically everything that is cyclic can be represented as a set of functions (or functionals) that are
solutions to second order differential equations (and vector equations).

The two are related in a manner that there is something cyclic/ recurring about both Harmonic
Functions and Harmonic Motion. Another relation that can be derived is that the equation of SHM is a
second order differential equation and the second order differentials usually tend to have a cyclic
character.