Oscillations Fsica I

Figure 1: Position vs time for four different motions.

1. If we assume x(t) of the form x(t) = A cos(t + ), find the amplitude A, the angular frequency
and the phase constant for the four series shown in figure 1.
2. True or false
For a simple harmonic oscillator, the period is proportional to the square of the amplitude
For a simple harmonic oscillator, the frequency does not depend on the amplitude
If the net force on a particle undergoing one-dimensional motion is proportional to, and
opposite directly from, the displacement from equilibrium, the motion is simply harmonic
3. The tip of a tuning fork goes through 440 complete vibrations in half a second. Find the
angular frequency and the period of the motion
4. If the amplitude of a simple harmonic oscillator is tripled, by what factor is the energy changed
5. Two mass-spring systems oscillate with periods TA and TB . If TA = 2TB and the systems spring
have identical force constants, it follows that the systems masses are related by mA /mB = ?
6. Two mass-spring systems oscillate with frequencies fA and fB . If fA = 2fB and the sys-
tems spring have identical force constants, it follows that the systems masses are related by
mA /mB = ?
7. The length of the string or wire supporting a pendulum increases slightly when the temperature
of the string or wire increases. How does this affect a clock operated by a simple pendulum?
8. The position of a particle is given by x = (7cm) cos(6t), where t is in seconds. What are the
frequency, the period and the amplitude of the particles motion? What is the first time after
t = 0 that the particle is at its equilibrium position? In what direction is it moving at that
time?
9. What is the phase constant in x = A cos(t + ) if the position of the oscillating particle at
time t = 0 is: 0, -A, A and A/2

1
Oscillations Fsica I

10. What is the phase constant in x = A sin(t + ) if the position of the oscillating particle at
time t = 0 is: 0, -A, A and A/2

11. A particle of mass m begins at rest from x = 25 cm and oscillates about its equilibrium position
at x = 0 with a period of 1.5 s. Write expressions for the position x, the velocity vx and the
acceleration ax as functions of t

12. The period of a particle that is oscillating in simple harmonic motion is 8 s and its amplitude is
12 cm. At t = 0, it is at its equilibrium position. Find the distance the particle travels during
the intervals, from t = 0 s to: t = 1 s ; t = 2 s ; t = 3 s ; t = 4 s ; t = 120 s

13. The position of a particle is given by x = 2.5 cos(t), where x is in meters and t in seconds.
Find the maximum speed and maximum acceleration of the particle. Find the speed and
acceleration of the particle when x = 1.5 m

14. A 2 kg frictionless block is attached to an ideal spring with force constant 300 N/m. At t = 0
the spring is neither stretched nor compressed and the block is moving in the negative direction
at 12 m/s. Find the amplitude and the phase angle. Write an equation for the position as a
function of time.

15. Repeat the exercise 14, but assume that at t = 0 the block has velocity 4 m/s and displacement
+2 m

16. The point of the needle of a sewing machine moves in a simple harmonic motion along the
x-axis with a frequency of 2.5 Hz. At t = 0 its position and velocity components are +1.1 cm
and 15 cm/s, respectively. Find the acceleration component of the needle at t = 0. Write
equations giving the position, velocity and acceleration components of the point as a function
of time.

17. An object is undergoing a simple harmonic motion with period 1.2 s and amplitude 0.6 m. At
t = 0 the object is at x = 0. How far is the object from the equilibrium position when t = 0.48
s?

18. An object with 0.4 kg is undergoing a simple harmonic motion and has ax = 2.7 m s2 when
x = 0.3 m. What is the period?

19. A mass of 0.5 kg on a spring has a velocity as a function of time given by the following
equation: vx (t) = (3.6 cm/s) sin (4.71s 1t /2). What are the period, the amplitude, the
maximum acceleration of the mass and the force constant of the spring?

20. A mass of 1.5 kg on a spring has displacement as function of time given by the equation
x(t) = (7.4cm) cos (4.16s1 t 2.42). Find the time for one complete vibration,the maximum
speed of the mass, the maximum force on the mass, and finally the position, speed, acceleration
of the mass and the force on it at t = 1 s

21. An object is undergoing a simple harmonic motion with period 0.3 s and amplitude 6 cm. At
t = 0 the object is instantaneously at rest at x = 6 cm. Calculate the time it takes the object
to go from x = 6 cm to x = 1.5 cm

22. An object of 2.4 kg on a frictionless horizontal surface is attached to one end of a horizontal
spring of force constant k = 4.5 kN/m. The other end of the spring is held stationary. The
spring is stretched 10 cm from equilibrium and released. Find the systems total mechanical
energy.

2
Oscillations Fsica I

23. Find the total energy of a system consisting of an object of 3 kg on a frictionless horizontal
surface oscillating with an amplitude of 10 cm and a frequency of 2.4 Hz at the end of a
horizontal spring
24. An object of 3 kg on a frictionless horizontal surface oscillates at the end of a spring with an
amplitude of 8 cm. Its maximum acceleration is 3.5 m/s2 . Find the total mechanical energy.
25. A turning fork labelled 392 Hz has the tip of each of its two prongs vibrating with an amplitude
of 0.6 mm. What is the maximum speed of the tip of a prong? A house fly (Musca domestica)
with mass 0.027 g is holding on to the tip of one of the prongs. As the prong vibrates, what
is the flys maximum kinetic energy? Assume that the flys mass has a negligible effect on the
frequency of oscillation.
26. A harmonic oscillator has angular frequency and amplitude A What are the magnitudes of
the displacement and velocity when the elastic potential energy is equal to the kinetic energy?
(Assume that U = 0 at equilibrium) How often does this occur in each cycle? What is the time
between occurrences? At an instant when the displacement is equal to A/2, what fraction of
the total energy of the system is kinetic and what fraction is potential?
27. A 0.5 kg glider, attached to the end of and ideal spring with force constant k = 450 N/m,
undergoes a simple harmonic motion with an amplitude of 0.04 m. Calculate the maximum
speed of the glider; the speed of the glider when it is at x = 0.015 m; the magnitude of the
maximum acceleration of the glider at x = 0.015 m; the total mechanical energy of the glider
at any point in its motion
28. A cheerleader waves her pom-pom in simple harmonic motion with an amplitude of 18 cm and
a frequency of 0.85 Hz. Find the maximum magnitude of the acceleration and of the velocity;
the acceleration and speed when the pom-poms coordinate is x = 9 cm; the time required to
move from the equilibrium position directly to a point 12 cm away.
29. A 0.15 kg toy is undergoing a simple harmonic motion on the end of a horizontal spring with
force constant k = 300 N/m. When the object is 0.012 m from its equilibrium position, it is
observed to have a speed of 0.3 m/s. What are the total energy of the object at any point of
its motion; the amplitude of the motion; the maximum speed attained by the object during its
motion?
30. You are watching and object that is moving in simple harmonic motion. When the object is
displaced 0.6 m to the right of its equilibrium position, it has a velocity of 2.2 m/s to the right
and an acceleration fo 8.4 m/s2 to the left. How much farther from this point will the object
move before it stops momentarily and then starts to move back to the left?
31. On a horizontal, frictionless table, an open-topped 5.2 kg box is attached to an ideal horizontal
spring having force constant 375 N/m. Inside the box is a 3.44 kg stone. The system is
oscillating with an amplitude of 7.5 cm. When the box has reached its maximum speed, the
stone is suddenly plucked vertically out of the box without touching the box. Find the period
and the amplitude of the resulting motion of the box. Is the new period greater or smaller than
the original period?
32. A 2.4 kg object on a frictionless horizontal surface is attached to the end of a horizontal spring
that has a force constant k = 4.5 kN/m. The spring is stretched 10 cm from equilibrium and
released. What are the frequency of the motion, the period, the amplitude, the maximum speed
and the maximum acceleration? When does the object first reach its equilibrium position?
What is its acceleration at this time?

3
Oscillations Fsica I

33. A 5 kg object on a frictionless horizontal surface is attached to one end of a horizontal spring
that has a force constant k = 700 N/m. The spring is stretched 8 cm from equilibrium and
released. What are the frequency of the motion, the period, the amplitude, the maximum speed
and the maximum acceleration? When does the object first reach its equilibrium position?
What is its acceleration at this time?

34. A 3 kg object on a frictionless horizontal surface is attached to one end of a horizontal spring
and oscillates with an amplitude A = 10 cm and a frequency f = 2.4 Hz. What is the force
constant of the spring? What is the period of the motion? What is the maximum speed of the
object? What is the maximum acceleration of the object?

35. A 4.5 kg object oscillates on a horizontal spring with an amplitude of 3.8 cm. The objects
maximum acceleration is 26 m s2 . Find the force constant of the spring, the frequency of the
object and the period of the motion of the object

36. An object of mass m is suspended from a vertical spring of force constant 1800 N/m. When
the object is pulled down 2.5 cm from equilibrium and released from rest, the object oscillates
at 5.50 Hz. Find m. Find the amount the spring is stretched from its unstressed length
when the object is in equilibrium. Write expressions for the displacement, the velocity and the
acceleration as functions of time.

37. An object is hung on the end of a vertical spring and is released from rest with the spring
unstressed. If the object falls 3.42 cm before first coming to rest, find the period of the
resulting oscillatory motion

38. A suitcase of mass 20 kg is hung from two bungee cords. Each cord is stretched 5 cm when the
suitcase is in equilibrium. If the suitcase is pulled down a little and released, what will be its
oscillation frequency?

39. A 0.12 kg block is suspended from a spring. When a small pebble of mass 30 g is placed on
the block, the spring stretches an additional 5 cm. With the pebble on the block, the block
oscillates with an amplitude of 12 cm. What is the frequency of the motion? How long does
the block take to travel from its lowest point to its highest point? What is the net force on the
pebble when it is at the point of maximum upward displacement?

40. Referring to problem 39, find the maximum amplitude of oscillation at which the pebble will
remain in contact with the block

41. An object of mass 2 kg is attached to the top of a vertical spring that is anchored to the floor.
The unstressed length is of hte spring is 8 cm and the length of the spring when the object
is in equilibrium is 5 cm. When the object is resting at its equilibrium position, it is given a
sharp downward blow with a hammer so that its initial speed is 0.3 m/s. To what maximum
height above the floor does the object eventually rise? How long does it take for the object to
reach its maximum height for the first time? Does the spring ever become unstressed? What
minimum initial velocity must be given to the object for the spring to be unstressed at some
time?

42. A proud deep-sea fisherman hangs a 65 kg fish from an ideal spring having negligible mass. The
fish stretches the spring 0.12 m. Find the force constant of the spring. The fish is now pulled
down 5 cm and released. What is the period of oscillation of the fish? What is the maximum
speed it will reach?

4
Oscillations Fsica I

43. A 175 g glider on a horizontal, frictionless air track is attached to a fixed ideal spring with force
constant 155 N/m. At the instant you make measurements on the glider, it is moving at 0.815
m/s and is 3 cm from its equilibrium point. Use energy conservation to find the amplitude
of the motion and the maximum speed of the glider. What is the angular frequency of the
oscillations?

44. A thrill-seeking cat with mass 4 kg is attached by a harness to an ideal spring of negligible
mass and oscillates vertically in simple harmonic motion. The amplitude is 0.05 m, and at the
highest point of the motion the spring has its natural unstretched length. Calculate the elastic
potential energy of the spring (take it to be zero for the unstretched spring), the kinetic energy
of the cat, the gravitational potential energy of the system relative to the lowest point of the
motion and the sum of these three energies when the cat is at its highest point, at its lowest
point and at its equilibrium position

45. A 1.5 kg ball and a 2 kg ball are glued together with the lighter one below the heavier one.
The upper ball is attached to a vertical ideal spring of force constant 165 N/m and the system
is vibrating vertically with amplitude 15 cm. The glue connecting the balls is old an weak, and
it suddenly comes loose when the balls are at the lowest position in their motion. Why is the
glue more likely to fail at the lowest point than at any other point in the motion? Find the
amplitude and frequency of the vibrations after the lower ball has come loose.

46. A uniform, solid metal disk of mass 6.5 kg and diameter 24 cm hangs in a horizontal plane,
supported at its center by a vertical metal wire. You find that it requires a horizontal force
of 4.23 N tangent to the rim of the disk to turn it by 3.34o , thus twisting the wire. You now
remove this force and release the disk from rest. What is the torsion constant for the metal
wire? What are the frequency and period of the torsional oscillations of the disk? Write the
equation of motion for (t) for the disk

47. A certain alarm clock tick four times each second, with each tick representing half a period.
The balance wheel consists of a thin rim with radius 0.55 cm, connected to the balance shaft
by thin spokes of negligible mass. The total mass of the balance wheel is 0.9 g. What is the
moment of inertia of the balance wheel about its shaft? What is the torsion constant of the
hairspring?

48. A thin metal disk with mass 2 103 kg and radius 2.2 cm is attached at its center to a long
thin rod. The disk, when twisted and released, oscillates with a period of 1 s. Find the torsion
constant of the thin rod.

49. You want to find the moment of inertia of a complicated machine part about an axis through
its center of mass. You suspend it from a wire along this axis. The wire has a torsion constant
of 0.45 N m/rad. You twist the part a small amount about this axis and let it go, timing 125
oscillations in 265 s. what is the moment of inertia you want to find?

50. If the period of a 70 cm long simple pendulum is 1.68 s, what is the value of g at the location
of the pendulum?

51. A simple pendulum that is set up in the stair well of a 10 story building consists of a heavy
weight suspended on a 34 m long wire. What is the period of the oscillation?

52. You pull a simple pendulum 0.24 m long to the side through an angle of 3.5o and release it.
How much time does it take the pendulum bob to reach its highest speed? How much time
does it take if the pendulum is released at an angle of 1.75o instead of 3.5o ?

5
Oscillations Fsica I

53. An 82 kg mountain climber plans to swing down, starting from rest, from a ledge using a light
rope 6.5 m long. He holds one end of the rope and the other end is tied higher up on a rock
face. Since the ledge is not very far from the rock face, the rop makes a small angle with the
vertical At the lowest point of his swing, he plans to let go and drop a short distance to the
ground. How long after he begins his swing will the climber first reach his lowest point? If he
missed the first chance to drop off, how long after first beginning his swing will the climber
reach his lowest point for the second time?

54. A building in San Francisco has light fixtures consisting of small 2.35 kg bulbs with shades
hanging from the ceiling at the end of light thin cords 1.5 m long. If a minor earthquake
occurs, how many swings per second will these fixtures make?

55. A certain simple pendulum has a period on the Earth of 1.6 s. What is its period on the surface
of Mars, where gM = 3.71 m s2 ?

56. An apple weighs 1 N. When you hag it from the end of a long spring of force constant 1.5
N/m and negligible mass, it bounces up and down in simple harmonic motion. If you stop
the bouncing and let the apple swing from side to side through a small angle, the frequency
of this simple pendulum is half the bounce frequency. Because the angle is small, the back
and forth swings do not cause any appreciable change in the length of the spring. What is the
unstretched length fo the spring (with the apple removed)?

57. After landing on an unfamiliar planet, a space explorer construct a simple pendulum of length
50 cm. She finds that the pendulum makes 100 complete swings in 136 s. What is the value of
g on this planet?

58. A thin 5 kg uniform disk with a 20 cm radius is free to rotate about a fixed horizontal axis
perpendicular to the disk and passing through its rim. The disk is displaced slightly from
equilibrium and released. Find the period of the subsequent simple harmonic motion

59. A circular hoop that has a 50 cm radius is hung on a narrow horizontal rod and allowed to swing
in the plane of the hoop. What is the period of its oscillation, assuming that the amplitude is
small?

60. We want to hang a thin hoop on a horizontal nail and have the hoop make one complete
small-angle oscillation each 2 s. What must the hoops radius be?

61. Two pendulums have the same dimensions (length L) and total mass (m). Pendulum A is
a very small ball swinging at the end of a uniform massless bar. In pendulum B, half the
mass is in the ball and half is in the uniform bar. Find the period of each pendulum for small
oscillations. Which one takes longer for a swing?

62. A 2 kg object oscillates on a spring with an initial amplitude of 3 cm. The force constant of
the spring is 400 N/m. Find the period, and the total initial energy. If the energy decreases
by 1% per period, find the linear damping constant b and the Q factor

63. A linearly damped mass-spring system oscillates at 200 Hz. The time constant of the system
is 2 s. At t = 0, the amplitude of oscillation is 6 cm and the energy of the oscillating system
is 60 J. What are the amplitudes of oscillation at t = 2 s and t = 4 s? How much energy is
dissipated in the first 2 s interval and in the second 2 s interval?

6
Oscillations Fsica I

64. A 2.2 kg oscillates on a spring of force constant 250 N/m with a period of 0.615 s. Is this
system damped or not? How do you know? If it is damped, find the damping constant b. Is
the system undamped, underdamped, critically damped or overdamped? How do you know?

65. An unhappy 0.3 kg rodent, moving on the end of a spring with force constant k = 2.5 N/m,
is acted on by a damping force Fx = bvx . If the constant b has the value 0.9 kg/s, what is
the frequency of oscillation of the rodent? For what value of the constant b will the motion be
critically damped?

66. A 50 g hard boiled egg moves on the end of a spring with force constant k = 25 N/m. Its
initial displacement is 0.3 m. A damping force Fx = bvx acts on the egg, and the amplitude
of the motion decreases to 0.1 m in 5 s. Calculate the magnitude of the damping constant b.

67. A linearly damped oscillator loses 2% of its energy during each cycle. What is its Q factor?
If its resonance frequency is 300 Hz, what is the width of the resonance curve 4 when the
oscillator is driven?

68. A damped oscillator loses 3.5 % of its energy during each cycle. How many cycles elapse before
half of its original energy is dissipated? What is its Q factor? If the natural frequency is
100 Hz, what is the width of the resonance curve when the oscillator is driven by a sinusoidal
force?

69. A sinusoidally varying driving force is applied to a damped harmonic oscillator of force constant
k and mass m. If the damping
p constant has a value b1 , the amplitude is A1 , when the driving
angular frequency equals k/m. In terms of A1 , what is the amplitude for the same driving
frequency and the same driving force amplitude Fmax , if the damping constant is: 3b1 and b1 /2

70. An experimental package and its support structure, which are to be placed on board the
International Space Station, act as an underdamped spring-mass system with a force constant
of 2.1 105 N/m and mass 108 kg. A NASA requirement is that resonance for forced oscillations
not occur for any frequency below 35 Hz. Dos this package meet the requirement?

71. A block that has a mass equal to m1 is supported from below by a frictionless horizontal surface.
The block, which is attached to the end of a horizontal spring that has a force constant k,
oscillates with an amplitude A. When the spring is at its greatest extension and the block is
instantaneously at rest, a second block of mass m2 is placed on top of it. What is the smallest
value for the coefficient of static friction s such that the second object does not slip on the
first? Explain how the total mechanical energy E, the amplitude A, the angular frequency
, and the period T of the system are affected by placing of m2 on m1 , assuming that the
coefficient of friction is great enough to prevent slippage.

72. A 100 kg box hangs from the ceiling of a room, suspended from a spring with a force constant
of 500 N/m. The unstressed length of the spring is 0.5 m. Find the equilibrium position of the
box. An identical spring is stretched and attached to the ceiling and the box, and is parallel
with the first spring. Find the frequency of the oscillations when the box is released. What is
the new equilibrium position of the box once it comes to rest?

73. A small block that has a mass equal to m1 rests on a piston that is vibrating vertically with
simple harmonic motion described by the formula y = A sin t. Show that the block will leave
the piston if 2 A > g. If 2 A = 3g and A = 15 cm, at what time will the block leave the
piston

7
Oscillations Fsica I

74. Four passengers with combined mass 250 kg compress the springs of a car with worn-out shock
absorbers by 4 cm when they get in. Model the car and passengers as a single body on a single
ideal spring. If the loaded car has a period of vibration of 1.08 s, what is the period of vibration
of the empty car?
75. A child with poor table manners is sliding his 250 g dinner plate back and forth in simple
harmonic motion with an amplitude of 0.1 m on a horizontal surface. At a point 0.06 m
away from equilibrium, the speed of the plate is 0.3 m/s. What is the period? What is the
displacement when the speed is 0.16 m/s? In the center of the dinner plate is a 10 g carrot
slice. If the carrot slice is just on the verge of slipping at the endpoint of the path, what is the
coefficient of static friction between the carrot slice and the plate?
76. A 1.5 kg horizontal, uniform tray is attached to a vertical ideal spring of force constant 185
N/m and a 275 g metal ball is in the tray. The spring is below the tray, so it can oscillate up
and down. The tray is then pushed down 15 cm below its equilibrium point (call this point A)
and released from rest. How high above point A will the tray be when the metal ball leaves
the tray? How much time elapses between releasing the system at point A and the ball leaving
the tray? How fast is the ball moving just as it leaves the tray?
77. A 10 kg mass is travelling to the right with a speed of 2 m/s on a smooth horizontal surface
when it collides with and sticks to a second 10 kg mass that is initially at rest but is attached
to a light spring with force constant 80 N/m. Find the frequency, amplitude and period of
the subsequent oscillations. How long does it take the system to return the first time to the
position it had immediately after the collision?
78. A rocket is accelerating upward at 4 m s2 from the launchpad on the earth. Inside, a small
1.5 kg ball hangs from the ceiling by a light 1.1 m wire. If the ball is displaced 8.5o from the
vertical and released, find the amplitude and period of the resulting swings of this pendulum
79. A 2 kg bucket containing 10 kg of water is hanging from a vertical ideal spring of force constant
125 N/m and oscillating up and down with an amplitude of 3 cm. Suddenly the bucket springs
a leak in the bottom such that water drops out at a steady rate of 2 g/s. When the bucket is
half full, find the period of oscillation and the rate at which the period is changing with respect
to time. Is the period getting longer or shorter? What is the shortest period this system can
have?
80. A 5 kg partridge is suspended from a pear tree by an ideal spring of negligible mass. When
the partridge is pulled down 0.1 m below its equilibrium position and released, it vibrates with
a period of 4.2 s. What is its speed as it passes through the equilibrium position? What is its
acceleration when it is 0.05 m above the equilibrium position? When it is moving upward, how
much time is required for it to move from a point 0.05 m below its equilibrium position to a
point 0.05 m above it? The motion of the partridge is stopped, and then it is remove from the
spring. How much does the spring shorten?
81. A 0.02 kg bolt moves with simple harmonic motion that has an amplitude of 0.24 m and a
period of 1.5 s. The displacement of the bolt is 0.24 m when t = 0. Compute the displacement
of the bolt when t = 0.5 s; the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the bolt when
t = 0.5 s; the minimum time required for the bolt to move from its initial position to the point
where x = 0.18 m; the speed of the bolt when x = 0.18 m
82. On the certain planet, a simple pendulum having a bob with mass 1.25 kg and length of 185
cm takes 1.42 s, when released from rest, to swing through an angle of 12.5o , where it again

8
Oscillations Fsica I

has zero speed. The circumference of the planet is measured to be 51 400 km. What is the
mass of the planet?