Chapter 15

Oscillations

In this chapter we will cover the following topics:

Displacement, velocity, and acceleration of a simple harmonic

oscillator

Energy of a simple harmonic oscillator

Examples of simple harmonic oscillators: spring-mass system, simple

pendulum, physical pendulum, torsion pendulum

Damped harmonic oscillator

(15-1)
Forced oscillations/resonance
 x(t ) = xm cos (t +  )

Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)

In fig. a we show snapshots of a simple
oscillating system.

The motion is periodic, i.e., it repeats in time. The time needed to complete
one repetition is known as the period (symbol T , units: s). The number of
1
repetitions per unit time is called the frequency (symbol f , unit hertz), f = .
T
The displacement of the particle is given by the equation x(t ) = xm cos (t +  ) .
Fig. b is a plot of x(t ) versus t. The quantity xm is called the amplitude of the
motion. It gives the maximum possible displacement of the oscillating object.
The quantity  is called the angular frequency of the oscillator. It is given by
the equation 2
 = 2 f = (15-2)
T
x(t ) = xm cos (t +  ) The quantity  is called the phase angle of the oscillator.
The value of  is determined from the displacement x(0)
and the velocity v(0) at t = 0. In fig. a x(t ) is plotted
versus t for  = 0 : x(t ) = xm cos t.
Velocity of SHM
dx(t ) d
v(t ) = =  xm cos (t +  )  = − xm sin (t +  )
dt dt
The quantity  xmis called the velocity amplitude vm .
It expresses the maximum possible value of v(t ).
In fig. b the velocity v(t ) is plotted versus t for  = 0 :
v(t ) = − xm sin t.

dv(t ) d
Acceleration of SHM: a(t ) = =  − xm sin (t +  )  = − 2 xm cos t = − 2 x
dt dt
The quantity  2 xmis called the acceleration amplitude am . It expresses the maximum
possible value of a(t ). In fig. c the acceleration a(t ) is plotted versus t for  = 0 :
a(t ) = − 2 xm cos t. (15-3)
 The Force Law for Simple Harmonic Motion
We saw that the acceleration of an object undergoing SHM is a = − 2 x.
If we apply Newton's second law we get: F = ma = −m 2 x = − ( m 2 ) x.
Simple harmonic motion occurs when the force acting on an object is proportional
to the displacement but opposite in sign. The force can be written as F = −Cx
where C is a constant. If we compare the two expressions for F we have
m 2 = C → and m
T = 2
C
Consider the motion of a mass m attached to a spring
of spring constant k that moves on a frictionless
horizontal floor as shown in the figure.
The net force F on m is given by Hooke's law: F = −kx. If we compare this equation
with the expression F = −Cx we identify the constant C with the spring constant k .
We can then calculate the angular frequency  and the period T .
C k m m k m
= = and T = 2 = 2 = T = 2
m m C k m k
(15-4)
Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion The mechanical energy E of a SHM
is the sum of its potential and kinetic energies U and K .

1 2 1 2
Potential energy: U = kx = kxm cos 2 (t +  )
2 2
1 1 1 k
Kinetic energy: K = mv 2 = m 2 xm2 sin 2 (t +  ) = m xm2 sin 2 (t +  )
2 2 2 m
1 2 1 2
Mechanical energy: E = U + K = kxm cos (t +  ) + sin (t +  )  = kxm
 2 2

2 2
In the figure we plot the potential energy U (green line), the kinetic energy K
(red line), and the mechanical energy E (black line) versus time t. While U and
K vary with time, the energy E is a constant. The energy of the oscillating object
transfers back and forth between potential and kinetic energy, while the sum of
the two remains constant. (15-5)
 An Angular Simple Harmonic Oscillator; Torsion Pendulum
In the figure we show another type of oscillating system.
It consists of a disc of rotational inertia I suspended from a
wire that twists as m rotates by an angle  . The wire exerts
a restoring torque  = − on the disc.
This is the angular form of Hooke's law. The constant
 = −  is called the torsion constant of the wire.

If we compare the expression  = − for the torque with the force equation
F = −Cx we realize that we identify the constant C with the torsion constant  .
We can thus readily determine the angular frequency  and the period T of the
C  I I
oscillation: = = T = 2 = 2
I I C 
We note that I is the rotational inertia of the disc about an axis that coincides with
the wire. The angle  is given by the equation  (t ) =  m cos (t +  )
(15-6)
 Damped Simple Harmonic Motion
When the amplitude of an oscillating object is reduced due
to the presence of an external force the motion is said to be
damped. An example is given in the figure. A mass m
attached to a spring of spring constant k oscillates vertically.
The oscillating mass is attached to a vane submerged in a
liquid. The liquid exerts a damping force Fd whose
magnitude is given by the equation Fd = −bv.

The negative sign indicates that Fd opposes the motion of the oscillating mass.
The parameter b is called the damping constant. The net force on m is
Fnet = −kx − bv. From Newton's second law we have:
dx d 2x
−kx − bv = ma. We substitute v with and a with 2 and get
dt dt
d 2x dx
the following differential equation: m 2 + b + kx = 0.
dt dt (15-11)
 Newton's second law for the damped harmonic oscillator:
d 2x dx
m 2 + b + kx = 0. The solution has the form:
dt dt
x(t ) = xme−bt / 2 m cos ( t +  )

In the picture above we plot x(t ) versus t. We can regard the above solution
as a cosine function with a time-dependent amplitude xm e−bt /2 m . The angular
frequency   of the damped harmonic oscillator is given by the equation
k b2 1 2
 = − 2
. For an undamped harmonic oscillator the energy E = kxm .
m 4m 2
If the oscillator is damped its energy is not constant but decreases with time.
If the damping is small we can replace xm with xm e −bt /2 m . By doing so we find that
1
E (t )  kxm2 e −bt / m . The mechanical energy decreases exponentially with time.
2
(15-12)
Moving Forced Oscillations and Resonance
support
If an oscillating system is disturbed and then allowed
to oscillate freely the corresponding angular frequency 
is called the natural frequency. The same system can also
be driven as shown in the figure by a moving support that
oscillates at an arbitrary angular frequency d . Such a
forced oscillator oscillates at the angular frequency d
of the driving force. The displacement is given by
x(t ) = xm cos ( t +  ) . The oscillation amplitude xm varies
with the driving frequency as shown in the lower figure.
The amplitude is approximately greatest when d = .
This condition is called resonance. All mechanical structures
have one or more natural frequencies, and if a structure is
subjected to a strong external driving force whose frequency
matches one of the natural frequencies, the resulting oscillations
(15-13)
may damage the structure.