Simple Harmonic Motion

General Physics 2 (STEM 12)

Lyceum of Iligan Foundation
Objectives

✓Recall on Hooke’s Law and elastic potential energy

✓Identify the conditions for the occurrence of simple harmonic motion
✓Compare simple harmonic motion with uniform circular motion
✓Express position, velocity, and acceleration in SHM as a function of
time
✓Describe the motion of a pendulum
✓Compare damped oscillations with undamped oscillations, and
explore the applications of damped oscillations in real life

2
Why study periodic motion?

Periodic motion (or oscillation) is one of the most important

kinds of physical behavior.

3
Hooke’s Law

Consider an object attached to a

spring moving on a frictionless
horizontal surface:

• If the spring is stretched or compressed a small distance x from its

unstretched or equilibrium position and then released, it exerts a
force on the object.
• The spring force is found to obey Hooke’s Law:
• Fs = spring force
• k = spring constant, or force constant (measure of the spring’s stiffness)
• x = object’s displacement from equilibrium (x = 0)
4
Hooke’s Law
• Fs = spring force
• k = spring constant, or force constant (measure of the spring’s stiffness)
• x = object’s displacement from equilibrium (x = 0)

• Because the spring force always acts toward the equilibrium position,
it is sometimes called a restoring force.
• A restoring force always pushes or pulls the object toward the
equilibrium position.

5
Hooke’s Law
Suppose that the object is initially pulled a distance A to the right and
released from rest.

QUESTION: When does simple harmonic motion take place?

Simple harmonic motion occurs when the net force along the direction of
motion obeys Hooke’s law — when the net force is proportional to the
displacement from the equilibrium point and is always directed toward
the equilibrium point. 6
Discuss:

Are all periodic motions over

the same path considered as
simple harmonic motion?

Answer: No!
Not all periodic motions over the same path
can be classified as simple harmonic motion. A
ball being tossed back and forth between a
parent and a child moves repetitively, but the
motion isn’t simple harmonic motion because
the force acting on the ball doesn’t take the
form of Hooke’s law.

7
Some important terms

The following terms are important in understanding any kind of

periodic motion:
• Amplitude (A): maximum distance of the object from its equilibrium
position.
• In the absence of friction, an object in simple harmonic motion oscillates
between the positions x = – A and x = +A.
• Cycle (or complete vibration): one complete round trip made by the
body that undergoes periodic motion.
• Period (T): time it takes the object to move through one complete
cycle of motion, from x = +A to x = –A and back to x = +A.
8
Some important terms

The following terms are important in understanding any kind of

periodic motion:
• Frequency (f) is the number of complete cycles or vibrations per unit
of time, and is the reciprocal of the period.
f = 1/T
• SI unit: Hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second = 1/s = 1 s-1
• Angular frequency (ω): the frequency of vibration, times 2π.
ω = 2πf

9
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)

• When the restoring force is directly proportional to the displacement

from equilibrium, the oscillation is called simple harmonic motion
(SHM).
• The acceleration of an object moving with simple harmonic motion
can be found by using Hooke’s law in the equation for Newton’s
second law.
• From Hooke’s Law (Fs = – kx), we have

For extremely small displacements,

𝑑2 𝑥 𝑘
2
=− 𝑥
𝑑𝑡 𝑚
10
 Example
A 0.350 - kg object attached to a spring of force constant 1.30 × 102 N/m is free to move on
a frictionless horizontal surface. If the object is released from rest at x = 0.100 m, find the
force on it and its acceleration at x = 0.100 m, x = 0.050 0 m, x = 0 m, x = -0.050 0 m, and x
= -0.100 m.

When x is halved, F and a are also halved. Further, positive values of x

give negative values of F and a, whereas negative values of x give positive
values of F and a. As the object moves to the left and passes x = 0, Fs
11
becomes positive (for negative values of x), slowing the object down.
Elastic Potential Energy
A compressed spring has potential Recall: Elastic Potential Energy
energy that, when allowed to
expand, can do work on an object,
transforming spring potential energy
into the object’s kinetic energy.
Recall: Law of Conservation of Energy

If nonconservative forces (like friction)

are present,

12
Elastic Potential Energy

Consider: A block of
mass m slides on a
frictionless horizontal
surface with constant
velocity 𝒗𝑖 and collides
with a coiled spring.
Assume that the spring
is very light, and thus
has negligible KE.

13
Elastic Potential Energy

Because the spring

force is conservative
and because there are
no external forces that
can do work on the
system, the total
mechanical energy of
the system consisting
of the block and spring
remains constant.

14
Example
A 13 000 - N car starts at rest and rolls down a hill
from a height of 10.0 m. It then moves across a level
surface and collides with a light spring - loaded
guardrail.
(a) Neglecting any losses due to friction, and
ignoring the rotational kinetic energy of the wheels,
find the maximum distance the spring is
compressed. Assume a spring constant of 1.0 × 106
N/m.
(b) Calculate the magnitude of the car’s maximum
acceleration after contact with the spring, assuming
no frictional losses.
(c) If the spring is compressed by only 0.30 m, find
the change in the mechanical energy due to friction.
15
16
Example

17
Velocity as a Function of Position

From the law of conservation of energy,

Solving for v,

18
Comparing SHM with Uniform Circular Motion

As the turntable rotates

with constant angular
speed, the shadow of
the ball moves back and
forth with simple
harmonic motion.

19
Period, Frequency, and Angular Frequency
• Because the object moves through the distance 2πA in the time period T,
the speed v0 of the ball around the circular path is

and the period is

• By conservation of energy,

20
Period, Frequency, and Angular Frequency
Substituting to the expression for A/v0, the period T is given by
represents the time required for an object of
mass m attached to a spring with spring
constant k to complete one cycle of its motion

frequency of an
Recall: f = 1/T. So, object-spring system

and the angular frequency ω is

angular frequency of
an object-spring
system
Recall question: What are the
respective units for f and ω?21
Example
A 1.30 × 103 - kg car is constructed on a frame supported by four springs. Each
spring has a spring constant of 2.00 × 104 N/m. If two people riding in the car
have a combined mass of 1.60 × 102 kg, find the frequency of vibration of the
car when it is driven over a pothole in the road. Find also the period and the
angular frequency. Assume the weight is evenly distributed.

22
Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM

(constant)

Reference circle

23
Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM
• From the right triangle OPQ, we see that cosθ = x/A.
Therefore, the x – coordinate is

• Because the object rotates with constant angular

speed, it follows that θ = ωt. So,

• Or, more generally,

𝑥 = 𝐴 cos(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙)
where φ is called the phase angle. The latter equation
can be also written as
𝜋
𝑥 = 𝐴 sin 𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙 +
2 24
Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM

• The velocity and acceleration as a function of time for a harmonic

oscillator by taking the derivatives:

• Recall:

25
Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM

If we are given the initial position x0 and initial velocity v0 for the
oscillating body, we can determine the phase angle φ and the
amplitude A. At time t = 0,
𝑥0 = 𝐴 cos 𝜙
𝑣0 = −𝜔𝐴 sin 𝜙
Eliminating A,
𝑣0 −𝜔𝐴 sin 𝜙
= = −𝜔 tan 𝜙
𝑥0 𝐴 cos 𝜙

−1
𝑣0
𝜙 = tan − phase angle in SHM
𝜔𝑥0
26
Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in SHM

To find A, we square both sides of the equation for x0:

𝑥02 = 𝐴2 cos2 𝜙
We square both sides of the equation for v0 such that
𝑣02 2 sin2 𝜙
= 𝐴
𝜔2
Adding both equations will yield the amplitude in simple harmonic
motion:
2
2
𝑣0 amplitude in SHM
𝐴= 𝑥0 + 2
𝜔

27
Motion of a Pendulum
• Pendulum: a mechanical system composed
of a small bob of mass m suspended by a
light string of fixed length L.
• Gravity acts as a restoring force
• The pendulum bob moves along a circular
arc (rather than a linear back-and-forth
motion)
• The motion of the pendulum bob is nearly
straight for small oscillations; thus Hooke’s
law may apply approximately.

28
Motion of a Pendulum
A similar expression of Hooke’s law for a pendulum can
be given by
Ft = force acting in a direction tangent to the circular arc
𝑭𝒕 = −𝒌𝒔 s = displacement of the bob from equilibrium

From the figure on the right, the restoring force is

Since s = Lθ, Ft can be written as

Ft = force acting in a direction tangent to the circular arc
s = displacement of the bob from equilibrium
L = length of the pendulum string

29
Motion of a Pendulum
Recall: for an object-spring system, the angular frequency is given by

Substituting the expression of k for a pendulum,

• The period of a simple pendulum doesn’t depend on the mass,

but only on the pendulum’s length and on the free - fall
acceleration.
• The amplitude of the motion isn’t a factor as long as it’s relatively
30
small.
Simple harmonic motion for an
object – spring system, and its
analogy, the motion of a simple
pendulum.

31
The Physical Pendulum

A pendulum can be made from any object or shape!

• General case: physical pendulum
The period of a physical pendulum is given by
T = period
I = moment of inertia
L = length of the pendulum

Special case: moment of inertia I = mL2

that is, the correct period for a simple pendulum. 32

Example

Using a small pendulum of length 0.171 m, a geophysicist counts 72.0

complete swings in a time of 60.0 s. What is the value of g in this
location?

33
Damped Oscillations and Their Applications

• To be reported by Group 1 (Pila et al., 2024)

34
End of lesson

35