Periodic Motion

Periodic Motion
Simple harmonic motion: spring-mass

system, simple pendulum, physical
pendulum
Periodic Motion
A repeated motion, such as that of an acrobat swinging
on a trapeze. Other periodic motions include those
made by a child on a playground swing, a wrecking ball
swaying to and from, and a pendulum of a
grandfather’s clock or a metronome
Simple Harmonic
Motion
Earth’s Orbit
The motion of Earth orbiting the sun is periodic. Is
this motion simple harmonic? Why or why not?
Pinball
In pinball games, the force exerted by a compressed
spring is used to release a ball. If the distance the spring
is compressed is doubled, how will the force act on the
ball change?
If the spring is replaced with one that is half as stiff, how
will the force act on the ball change?
Measuring Simple Harmonic
Motion
Amplitude – the maximum displacement from
equilibrium.
In the absence of friction, a moving trapeze always returns to the
same maximum displacement after each swing. This maximum
equilibrium position is the amplitude.
A pendulum’s amplitude can be measured by the angle between
the pendulum’s equilibrium position and its maximum
displacement.
For a mass-spring system, the amplitude is the maximum
amount of stretching or compressing of the spring from its
equilibrium position.
Motion
Period T – the time it takes to execute a complete cycle
of motion.
Imagine the ride swinging from maximum displacement on one
side of the equilibrium to maximum displacement on the other
side, and then back again. This cycle is considered one complete
cycle of motion. If one complete cycle takes 20 s, then the period
of this motion is 20 s.
Note that after the time T, the object is back where it started. In
short, period is the time per cycle.
Measuring Simple Harmonic Motion
Frequency f – the number of cycles of vibrations per
unit time.
The number of complete cycles the ride swings through in a unit
of time is the ride’s frequency. If one complete cycle takes 20 s,
then the ride’s frequency is 1/20 cycles/s, or 0.05 cycles/s. The
SI unit of frequency is sˉ¹, known as Hertz (Hz). In this case, the
ride’s frequency is 0.05 Hz. In short, frequency is the number of
cycles per unit time.
Motion
This relationship was used to determine the frequency of the

ride.
The period of a simple pendulum
depends on pendulum length and
free-fall acceleration
Changing the length of a pendulum does not affect its period.
A change in free-fall acceleration also affects the period of a
pendulum.
period = 2 x square root of (length divided by free-fall

acceleration)
What is the period and frequency of a simple pendulum that is 70 cm long on the
Earth and on the Moon?
A pendulum makes 42 cycles in 63 seconds. (a) What is the period and frequency of
the pendulum? (b.) What is the length of the pendulum on Earth?
An 80cm simple pendulum makes 28 swings in 45 seconds of an unknown planet. What

is the gravitational acceleration of the planet?
What is the length of a simple pendulum used in a grandfather clock that has one
second between its tick and its tock on earth?
Why does the period of a pendulum
depend on pendulum length and
free-fall acceleration?
When two pendulums have different lengths but the same
amplitude , the shorter the pendulum will have the smaller
arc to travel to because the distance the mass travels from
maximum displacement to equilibrium is less while the
acceleration of both pendulums remains the same, the
shorter pendulum will have a shorter period.
Why do you think that mass and
amplitude do not affect the period of
a pendulum?
When the bobs of two pendulums differ in mass, the heavier
mass provides a large restoring force, but it also needs a
larger force to achieve the same acceleration. This is similar
to the situation for objects in free fall, which all have the same
acceleration regardless of their mass because the
acceleration of pendulums is the same, the period for both is
also the same.
When the length of one pendulum is decreased, the distance
that the pendulum travels to equilibrium is also decreased
because the accelerations of the two pendulums are equal, the
shorter the pendulum will have a smaller period.
Period of a mass-spring system
depends on mass and spring
constant
Hooke’s law - the restoring force acting on the mass is
determined by the displacement of the mass and by the spring
constant (Felastic = -kx). The magnitude of the mass does not
affect the restoring force.
Hooke’s law - the force required to stretch an elastic object such

as a metal spring is directly proportional to the extension of the
spring; commonly written: F = − kx
Hooke’s Law
The greater the spring constant (k), the stiffer the spring; hence a
greater force is required to stretch or compress the spring. When
force is greater, the acceleration is greater, and the amount of time
required for a single cycle should decrease (assuming that the
amplitude remains constant).
period = 2 x square root of (mass divided by spring constant)
Note that, as with the pendulum, changing the amplitude of the
vibration does not affect the period. This statement is true only for
systems and circumstances in which the spring obeys Hooke’s
law.
Comparison of SHM between Simple Pendulum and Spring-Mass System
Conditions of Simple
Harmonic Motion
At the equilibrium position, velocity
reaches a maximum
At maximum displacement, spring force
and acceleration reach maximum
In simple harmonic motion, restoring
force is proportional to displacement
The spring force always pushes or pulls the mass back
toward its original equilibrium position. For this reason, it
is sometimes called a restoring force.
Measurements show that the restoring force is directly

proportional to the displacement of the mass. Any
periodic motion that is the result of a restoring force that
is proportional to displacement is described by the term
simple harmonic motion. Because simple harmonic
motion involves a restoring force, every simple harmonic
motion is a back-and-forth motion over the same path.
Other Conditions of
Simple Harmonic Motion
A stretched or compressed spring has
elastic potential energy
A stretched or compressed spring stores elastic potential energy,
consider an archer shooting an arrow from a bow, bending the bow
by pulling back the bowstring is analogous to stretching a spring.
Once the bowstring has been pulled back, the bow stores elastic
potential energy, because the bow, arrow, and bowstring (the
system) are not at rest, the kinetic energy of the system is zero,
and the mechanical energy of the system is solely elastic potential.
When the bowstring is released, the bow’s elastic potential energy
is converted to the kinetic energy of the arrow.
The restoring force of a pendulum is a
component of the bob’s weight
If the restoring force is proportional to the displacement, then the

pendulum’s motion is simple harmonic, with the coordinate
system in which the x-axis is tangent to the direction of motion
and the y -axis is perpendicular to the direction of motion,
because the bob is always changing its position, these axes will
change at each point of the bob’s motion.
For small angles, the pendulum’s motion is simple
harmonic
As with mass-spring system, the restoring force of a simple
pendulum is not constant. Instead, the magnitude of the restoring
force varies with the bob’s distance from the equilibrium position.
The magnitude of the restoring force decreases as the
bob moves toward the equilibrium position and becomes zero at
the equilibrium position. When the angle of displacement is
relatively small (<15°), the restoring force is proportional to the
displacement.
Gravitational potential increases as a pendulum’s
displacement increases
As with the mass-spring system, the mechanical energy of a
simple pendulum is conserved in an ideal (frictionless) system.
However, the spring’s potential energy is elastic, while the
pendulum’s potential energy is gravitational. We define the
gravitational potential energy of a pendulum to be zero when it is
at the lowest point of its swing. At maximum displacement from
equilibrium, a pendulum’s energy is entirely gravitational potential
energy.

Periodic Motion

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Periodic Motion

Simple harmonic motion: spring-mass

This relationship was used to determine the frequency of the

period = 2 x square root of (length divided by free-fall

An 80cm simple pendulum makes 28 swings in 45 seconds of an unknown planet. What

Hooke’s law - the force required to stretch an elastic object such

Measurements show that the restoring force is directly

If the restoring force is proportional to the displacement, then the

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