Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator

Consider a mass m connected to a wall by a

spring, as shown in Figure 1. Suppose further

−𝑥=(𝑙−𝑙0 )
that no gravitational force is acting on so that

+𝑥=(𝑙−𝑙0)
the only force is due to the spring. If we let be
m
the equilibrium, or undistorted, length of the 𝑙
spring, then the restoring force must be some m
function of the displacement of the spring from Restoring 𝑙0
its equilibrium length. Let this displacement be force, F m
denoted by , where is the length of the spring. Hooke’s Law 𝑙
The simplest assumption we can make about Or, Restoring
the force on as a function of the displacement force, F
is that the force is directly proportional to the Figure 1: A mass connected to a wall by a
spring. If the force acting upon the mass is
displacement and to write directly proportional to the displacement of the
spring from its undistorted length, then the
force law is called Hooke's law.

The negative sign indicates that the force points to the bottom in Fig. 1 if the
spring is compressed and points to the up if the spring is stretched . Eq. 1 is
called Hooke's law and the (positive) proportionality constant k is called the
force constant of the spring. A small value of k implies a weak or loose
spring, and a large value of k implies a stiff spring.
Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
Newton's equation with a Hooke's law force is

If we let , then ( is a constant) and we have

The simple harmonic oscillator is a good model for a vibrating diatomic molecule. A
diatomic molecule, however, does not look like the system pictured in Fig.1, but
more like two masses connected by a spring, as in Fig.2. In this case we have two
equations of motion, one for each mass:

where is the undistorted length of the spring.

Note that if , the spring is stretched and the
force on mass is toward the right and that on Figure 2. Two masses connected by a spring,
mass is toward the left. This is why the force which is a model used to describe the vibrational
term in Eq. 4 is positive and that motion of a diatomic molecule.
in Eq. 5 is negative. Note also that the force on is equal and opposite to the force on ,
as it should be according to Newton's third law (action and reaction).
Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
If we add Eqs.4 and 5 we find that

This form suggests that we introduce a center-of-mass coordinate

where , so that we can write Eq. 6 in the form

There is no force term here, so Eq. 8 shows that the center of mass moves
uniformly in time with a constant momentum or is in rest.
The vibrational motion of the two-mass or two-body system in Fig. 2 must depend
upon only the relative separation of the two masses, or upon the relative
coordinate

If we divide Eq. 5 by and subtract Eq. 4 divided by , we find that

Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
If we let

and introduce , then from Eq. 11, then we have

The quantity , that we have defined is called the reduced mass. Eq. 12 is an
important result with a nice physical interpretation. If we compare Eq.12 with Eq. 3,
we see that Eq. 12 is the same except for the substitution of the reduced mass .
Thus, the two-body system in Fig. 2 can be treated as easily as the one-body
problem in Fig. 1 by using the reduced mass of the two-body system.

The general solution of Eqs. 3 or 12 is given by

where, and are constants of integration, and . The Eq. 13 can also be written as

if we put and , where and are other two constants.

Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
Interpretation of constants and in Eq. 14 :
The constant in Eq. 14 represents the maximum
displacement of the vibrating particle from its equilibrium
position. The nature of the angle can be understood if the
harmonic vibration is viewed as a projection of the motion of
a point of circle of radius equal to such that when the particle
executes one complete vibration, the point on the circle
completes one full rotation .
Let , a diameter of the circle be the path of vibratory motion
and another diameter perpendicular to it as shown in Fig. 3.
As the vibrating particle is displaced in time from its
equilibrium position by (), a point on the circle initially at ,
moves through the angle such that (Fig. 3 a), where
angular velocity of the point .
We may consider another vibration to begin from the point
(which is the projection on of the point on the circle) instead
of . The point makes an angle with so that after time the
displacement from is . The angles (Fig. 3a) or (Fig. 3b) are
phase angles or simply phase of the vibrating particle at time
Figure 3. Geometrical
and is the initial phase (i.e., at ). representation of vibratory
motion
Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
Frequency of Oscillation and Oscillation Period:
The motion represented by Eq. 14 is periodic in because the sine function
repeats itself. If is the period oscillation then
Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator

Kinetic Energy:
Classical Treatment of Harmonic Oscillator
Potential Energy: