Vibrations

and
Waves
Hooke’s Law
 Fs = - k x
 Fs is the spring force
 k is the spring constant
 It is a measure of the stiffness of the spring
 A large k indicates a stiff spring and a small k indicates
a soft spring
 x is the displacement of the object from its
equilibrium position
x = 0 at the equilibrium position
 The negative sign indicates that the force is
always directed opposite to the displacement
Hooke’s Law Force
 The force always acts toward the equilibrium position
 It is called the restoring force

 The direction of the restoring force is such that the object

is being either pushed or pulled toward the equilibrium
position
Hooke’s Law Applied to a
Spring – Mass System
 When x is positive (to the
right), F is negative (to the left)
 When x = 0 (at equilibrium), F
is 0
 When x is negative (to the
left), F is positive (to the right)
Motion of the Spring-
Mass System
 Assume the object is initially pulled to a
distance A and released from rest
 As the object moves toward the
equilibrium position, F and a decrease,
but v increases
 At x = 0, F and a are zero, but v is a
maximum
 The object’s momentum causes it to
overshoot the equilibrium position
Motion of the Spring-
Mass System, cont
 The force and acceleration start to increase in the
opposite direction and velocity decreases

 The motion momentarily comes to a stop at x = -

A

 It then accelerates back toward the equilibrium

position

 The motion continues indefinitely

Simple Harmonic
Motion
 Motion that occurs when the net force along
the direction of motion obeys Hooke’s Law
 Theforce is proportional to the displacement and
always directed toward the equilibrium position

 The
motion of a spring mass system is an
example of Simple Harmonic Motion
Simple Harmonic
Motion, cont.
 Notall periodic motion over the same path
can be considered Simple Harmonic motion

 To
be Simple Harmonic motion, the force
needs to obey Hooke’s Law
Example Problem
 A spring is pulled to 10 cm and held in place with a
force of 500 N. What is the spring constant of the
spring?
The change in position is 10 cm.
Since the units on the spring
constant are Newtons per meter,
we need to change the distance
to meters.
Δx = 10 cm = 0.10 m
F = k·Δx
Solve this for k by dividing both
sides by Δx
F/Δx = k
Since the force is 500 N, we get
500 N / 0.10 m = k

k = 5000 N/m
Amplitude
 Amplitude, A
 The amplitude is the maximum position of the object
relative to the equilibrium position

 In the absence of friction, an object in simple harmonic

motion will oscillate between the positions x = ±A
 Period and
Frequency
 The period, T, is the time that it takes for
the object to complete one complete cycle
of motion
 From x = A to x = - A and back to x = A
 Thefrequency, ƒ, is the number of
complete cycles or vibrations per unit time
ƒ =1/T
 Frequency is the reciprocal of the period
Acceleration of an
Object in Simple
Harmonic Motion
 Newton’s second law will relate force and
acceleration
 The force is given by Hooke’s Law
F = - k x = m a
a = -kx / m
 The acceleration is a function of position
 Acceleration is not constant and therefore the
uniformly accelerated motion equation cannot
be applied
Simple Harmonic Motion
and Uniform Circular
Motion
 A ball is attached to the rim of a
turntable of radius A

 The focus is on the shadow that the

ball casts on the screen

 When the turntable rotates with a

constant angular speed, the shadow
moves in simple harmonic motion
Position as a Function of
Time
 Use of a reference
circle allows a
description of the
motion
x = A cos (2ƒt)
x is the position at time t
x varies between +A
and -A
Velocity as a Function of
Time

Maximum magnitude of velocity

Acceleration as a Function
of Time

Maximum magnitude
of acceleration
Effective Spring Mass
 A graph of T2 versus m does not pass through the
origin

 The spring has mass and oscillates

 For a cylindrical spring, the effective additional

mass of a light spring is 1/3 the mass of the spring
Motion Equations

 Remember, the uniformly accelerated motion

equations cannot be used

 x = A cos (2pƒt) = A cos wt

 v = -2pƒA sin (2pƒt) = -A w sin wt
 a = -4p2ƒ2A cos (2pƒt) = -Aw2 cos wt
Example Problem
A 0.500-kg glider, attached to the end of an ideal spring with force
constant k=450 N/m undergoes SHM in frictionless horizontal plane with
an amplitude of 0.40 m. Compute the following

a. Angular frequency
b. Frequency
c. Period
d. Maximum speed of the glider
e. Maximum acceleration of the glider
f. Speed of the glider at t=2 sec
g. Acceleration of the glider at t= 2 seconds
h. Displacement at t=2 seconds
Graphical Representation
of Motion
 When x is a maximum
or minimum, velocity is
zero
 When x is zero, the
velocity is a maximum
 When x is a maximum
in the positive direction,
a is a maximum in the
negative direction
Energy in Simple
Harmonic Motion
The interplay between kinetic and potential energy is very
important for understanding simple harmonic motion
Elastic Potential
Energy
 A compressed spring has potential energy
 Thecompressed spring, when allowed to expand,
can apply a force to an object

 Thepotential energy of the spring can be

transformed into kinetic energy of the object
Elastic Potential
Energy, cont
 The energy stored in a stretched or compressed
spring or other elastic material is called elastic
potential energy
 PEs = ½kx2

 The energy is stored only when the spring is

stretched or compressed

 Elastic potential energy can be added to the

statements of Conservation of Energy and Work-
Energy
Energy in a Spring Mass
System
A block sliding on a
frictionless system
collides with a light
spring

 Theblock attaches to
the spring

 The
system oscillates in
Simple Harmonic Motion
 Energy Transformations

 The block is moving on a frictionless surface

 Thetotal mechanical energy of the system is
the kinetic energy of the block
 Energy Transformations,
2

 The spring is partially compressed

 The energy is shared between kinetic energy and
elastic potential energy
 The total mechanical energy is the sum of the
kinetic energy and the elastic potential energy
 Energy Transformations,
3

 The spring is now fully compressed

 The block momentarily stops
 Thetotal mechanical energy is stored as
elastic potential energy of the spring
Energy Transformations,
4

 When the block leaves the spring, the total

mechanical energy is in the kinetic energy of the block

 The spring force is conservative and the total energy

of the system remains constant
Velocity as a Function
of Position
 Conservation of Energy allows a
calculation of the velocity of the object
at any position in its motion
k
v 
m

A2  x 2 
 Speed is a maximum at x = 0
 Speed is zero at x = ±A
 The ± indicates the object can be traveling
in either direction
Period and Frequency
from Circular Motion
 Period m
T  2
k
 This gives the time required for an
object of mass m attached to a spring of
constant k to complete one cycle of its
motion

1 1 k
 Frequency ƒ 
T 2 m
 Units are cycles/second or Hertz, Hz
Angular Frequency
 The angular frequency is related to the
frequency
k
 2ƒ 
m
 The frequency gives the number of
cycles per second
 The angular frequency gives the number
of radians per second
 Verification of Sinusoidal
Nature
 This experiment shows the
sinusoidal nature of simple
harmonic motion
 The spring mass system
oscillates in simple
harmonic motion
 The attached pen traces out
the sinusoidal motion
 Simple Pendulum
 The simple pendulum
is another example of
simple harmonic
motion

 Theforce is the
component of the
weight tangent to the
path of motion
F = - m g sin θ
t
Simple Pendulum,
cont
 In general, the motion of a pendulum is not
simple harmonic

 However, for small angles, it becomes

simple harmonic
 In general, angles < 15° are small enough
 sin θ = θ
F =-mgθ
t
 This force obeys Hooke’s Law
 Period of Simple
Pendulum
L
T 2
g
 Thisshows that the period is independent of
the amplitude

 The period depends on the length of the

pendulum and the acceleration of gravity at
the location of the pendulum
Simple
Pendulum
Compared to a
Spring-Mass
System
Physical Pendulum
A physical pendulum can
be made from an object
of any shape

 The center of mass

oscillates along a circular
arc
Period of a Physical
Pendulum
 The period of a physical pendulum is given by

I
T  2
mgL
 I is the object’s moment of inertia
 m is the object’s mass
 L is the distance to the center of mass
 For a simple pendulum, I = mL2 and the
equation becomes that of the simple
pendulum as seen before
Damped Oscillations
 Only ideal systems oscillate indefinitely

 In real systems, friction retards the motion

 Friction reduces the total energy of the system

and the oscillation is said to be damped
Damped Oscillations,
cont.
 Damped motion varies
depending on the fluid
used
 With a low viscosity fluid, the
vibrating motion is
preserved, but the amplitude
of vibration decreases in time
and the motion ultimately
ceases
 This is known as
underdamped oscillation
More Types of
Damping
 With a higher viscosity, the object returns
rapidly to equilibrium after it is released
and does not oscillate
 The system is said to be critically damped
 With an even higher viscosity, the piston
returns to equilibrium without passing
through the equilibrium position, but the
time required is longer
 This is said to be over damped
 Graphs of Damped
Oscillators
 Plot
a shows an
underdamped oscillator
 Plot
b shows a critically
damped oscillator
 Plotc shows an
overdamped oscillator
Wave Motion
A wave is the motion of a disturbance
 Mechanical waves require
 Some source of disturbance
A medium that can be disturbed
 Some physical connection between or
mechanism though which adjacent portions of
the medium influence each other
 All waves carry energy and momentum
 Types of Waves –
Traveling Waves
 Flip one end of a long
rope that is under tension
and fixed at one end
 The pulse travels to the
right with a definite
speed
 A disturbance of this type
is called a traveling wave
Types of Waves – Transverse
 In a transverse wave, each element that is
disturbed moves in a direction
perpendicular to the wave motion
Types of Waves –
Longitudinal
 Ina longitudinal wave, the elements of the
medium undergo displacements parallel to
the motion of the wave
A longitudinal wave is also called a
compression wave
Other Types of Waves
 Waves may be a combination of transverse and
longitudinal

 A soliton consists of a solitary wave front that

propagates in isolation
 First studied by John Scott Russell in 1849
 Now used widely to model physical phenomena
Waveform – A Picture of
a Wave
 The brown curve is a
“snapshot” of the wave
at some instant in time
 The blue curve is later in
time
 The high points are
crests of the wave
 The low points are
troughs of the wave
Longitudinal Wave
Represented as a Sine
Curve
 A longitudinal wave can also be represented as a
sine curve
 Compressions correspond to crests and stretches
correspond to troughs
 Also called density waves or pressure waves
Description of a Wave
 A steady stream of pulses on
a very long string produces a
continuous wave

 The blade oscillates in

simple harmonic motion

 Each small segment of the

string, such as P, oscillates
with simple harmonic motion
Amplitude and
Wavelength
 Amplitude is the maximum
displacement of string
above the equilibrium
position
 Wavelength, λ, is the
distance between two
successive points that
behave identically
Speed of a Wave
v =ƒλ
 Is derived from the basic speed equation of
distance/time

 Thisis a general equation that can be

applied to many types of waves
Speed of a Wave on a
String
 The speed on a wave stretched under some
tension, F

F m
v  where  
 L

  is called the linear density

 The speed depends only upon the properties
of the medium through which the
disturbance travels
Interference of Waves
 Two traveling waves can meet and pass
through each other without being
destroyed or even altered
 Waves obey the Superposition Principle
 Iftwo or more traveling waves are moving
through a medium, the resulting wave is found
by adding together the displacements of the
individual waves point by point
 Actually only true for waves with small
amplitudes
Constructive
Interference
Two waves, a and b,
have the same
frequency and amplitude
 Are in phase

 Thecombined wave, c,
has the same frequency
and a greater amplitude
Constructive
Interference in a String

 Two pulses are traveling in opposite directions

 The net displacement when they overlap is the sum
of the displacements of the pulses
 Note that the pulses are unchanged after the
interference
Destructive Interference
 Twowaves, a and b,
have the same
amplitude and
frequency
 Theyare 180° out of
phase
 When they combine,
the waveforms cancel
Destructive Interference
in a String

 Two pulses are traveling in opposite directions

 The net displacement when they overlap is decreased since the

displacements of the pulses subtract

 Note that the pulses are unchanged after the interference

Reflection of Waves –
Fixed End
 Whenever a traveling wave
reaches a boundary, some
or all of the wave is
reflected
 When it is reflected from a
fixed end, the wave is
inverted
 The shape remains the
same
Reflected Wave – Free
End

 Whena traveling wave reaches a

boundary, all or part of it is reflected
 When reflected from a free end, the pulse
is not inverted