Differential Equation of the

Mechanical Oscillator
Prepared by;
Dr. Rajesh Sharma
Assistant Professor
Dept of Physics
P.G.G.C-11, Chandigarh
Email: drrajeshsharma@in.com
• The Hook’s law
F   Sx (1)
• Let there be a body of mass m attached to a spring. Then according
to the Newton’s Second law of motion, we have
d 2x
F m 2
dt
• Substituting this in eq.(1), we get
d 2x
m 2   Sx
dt
2
d x S
Or,
2
 (2) x
• Putting S where dt m
2 w0 is another constant for the oscillator, we get
 0
m
d 2x
Or, 2
   2
0 x (3)
dt
d 2x
2
  0x 0
2
This is called the Differential
dt Eq. of SHM and its solution is of the form

x  A cos 0t
Where A is the amplitude and w0 = S/m; T=2 m/s
 Energy of the Mechanical Oscillator
• The particle executing SHM possesses Kinetic as well as
Potential energies.
KINETIC ENERGY:
• The KE of the body of mass m, when possessing the velocity
v=dx/dt is given by 2
1 2 1  dx 
U k  mv  m (4) 
2 2  dt  dx
• Since x  A cos 0t and v   A0 sin 0t
dt
1
•  m  A0 sin 0t 
2
Uk 
2

Or, 1
Uk  mA202 sin(5)
2
0 t
2
POTENTIAL ENERGY:
• The particle executing SHM is moved against the restoring force and the
work so done is stored as the potential energy. Let us displace the particle
by dx , then the work done which is equal to the potential energy stored in
the system is given by:
dU p   Fdx
• Here the –ve sign indicates the work done against the restoring force.
Now, for the mass attached to the spring, we have F   Sx .
• We have dU p    Sx  dx  Sxdx
• The potential energy of the oscillator, when the displacement is x,
becomes
U p   dU p   Sxdx
1
• Or, U p  Sx 2 (6)
2
• Putting x  A cos  t we get
0
1 2 2 (7)
Up  SA cos 0t
2
 Total energy of the oscillator
• The total energy of the oscillator is given by
Um  Uk U p
1 1
• Or, U m  mA202 sin 2 0t  SA2 cos 2 0t
2 2
S
• But,  02 therefore, S  m02. Hence,
m
1 1
U m  mA202 sin 2 0t  mA202 cos2 0t
2 2
• Or,
U m  mA202  sin 2 0t  cos 2 0t 
1
2
• Or, 1
U m  mA202 (8)
2
• This shows that the total energy of the mechanical oscillator is constant or
is conserved and is independent of the location of the particle. I depends
upon m, A, w0 or S (because w0 = S/m).
 Average Kinetic Energy
• From Eq.(5), we have
1
Uk  mA202 sin 2 0t
2
• The Average KE over the time period is given by
1 1 
T
U k   mA 0  sin 0tdt 
2 2 2

T 2 0 
 1  cos 20t 
T
1 1
  mA202   dt
T 2 0 2
1 1   1
T
1
T

  mA 0    dt   cos 20tdt 
2 2

T 2  2 0 20 
T

2 2 
1 1 1   T 

T  2 mA 0   t   0  cos 20tdt  0
• Therefore
2
  0
 0 
1 1 2 2  1  1
U k   mA 0   T   mA202
T 2  2  4
 Average Potential Energy
• The potential energy 1 2
U p  SA cos 2 0t
2
• Putting S  m02 we get
1
Up  mA202 cos 2 0t
2
• The Average potential energy overT the time period is given by
1 1 
U p   mA 0  cos 0tdt 
2 2 2

T 2 0 
 1  cos 20t 
T
1 1
  mA202   dt
T 2 0 2
1 1   1
T
1
T

  mA 0    dt   cos 20tdt 
2 2

T 2  2 0 20 
T

2 2 
1 1 1   T 
  mA 0  t 0  cos 20tdt  0
T 2  2 
  0
 0 
1 1 2 2  1  1
U p   mA 0   T   mA202
T 2  2  4
• Also, the total energy of the oscillator is
1
Um  mA202
2
• Which shows that
1
U p  Uk  Um
2
• That is, the average potential energy is equal to the average kinetic energy
over a period and is equal to half the total energy of the mechanical
oscillator.