Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
A body of mass m is attached to one end of a massless spring which is suspended vertically from a fixed point. The mass is held in hand so that the spring is neither stretched nor compressed. Suddenly the support of the hand is removed. The lowest position attained by the mass during oscillation is 4 cm below the point, where it was held in hand.
What is the amplitude of oscillation?
Advertisements
Solution
When the support of the hand is removed, the body oscillates about a mean position.

Suppose x is the maximum extension in the spring when it reaches the lowest point in oscillation.
Loss in PE of the block = `mgx` ......(i)
Where m = mass of the block
The gain in elastic potential energy of the spring = `1/2 kx^2` ......(ii)
As the two are equal, conserving mechanical energy,
We get, `mgx = 1/2kx^2` or `x = (2mg)/k` ......(iii)
Now, the mean position of oscillation will be, when the block is balanced by the spring.

If x' is the extension in that case, then F = + kx'
But `F = mg`
⇒ `mg = + kx^'`
or `x^' = (mg)/k` ......(iv)
Dividing equation (iii) by equation (iv),
`x/x^' = ((2mg)/k)/((mg)/k)` = 2
⇒ `x = 2x^'`
But given x = 4 cm ......(maximum extension from the unstretched position)
∴ `2x^'` = 4
∴ `x^' = 4/2` = 2 cm
But the displacement of mass from the mean position to the position when the spring attains its natural length is equal to the amplitude of the oscillation.
∴ A = x' = 2 cm
Where A = amplitude of the motion.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
A particle executes simple harmonic motion with an amplitude of 10 cm. At what distance from the mean position are the kinetic and potential energies equal?
The equation of motion of a particle started at t = 0 is given by x = 5 sin (20t + π/3), where x is in centimetre and t in second. When does the particle
(a) first come to rest
(b) first have zero acceleration
(c) first have maximum speed?
Consider a particle moving in simple harmonic motion according to the equation x = 2.0 cos (50 πt + tan−1 0.75) where x is in centimetre and t in second. The motion is started at t = 0. (a) When does the particle come to rest for the first time? (b) When does he acceleration have its maximum magnitude for the first time? (c) When does the particle come to rest for the second time ?
A body of mass 2 kg suspended through a vertical spring executes simple harmonic motion of period 4 s. If the oscillations are stopped and the body hangs in equilibrium find the potential energy stored in the spring.
In following figure k = 100 N/m M = 1 kg and F = 10 N.
- Find the compression of the spring in the equilibrium position.
- A sharp blow by some external agent imparts a speed of 2 m/s to the block towards left. Find the sum of the potential energy of the spring and the kinetic energy of the block at this instant.
- Find the time period of the resulting simple harmonic motion.
- Find the amplitude.
- Write the potential energy of the spring when the block is at the left extreme.
- Write the potential energy of the spring when the block is at the right extreme.
The answer of b, e and f are different. Explain why this does not violate the principle of conservation of energy.

Repeat the previous exercise if the angle between each pair of springs is 120° initially.
The springs shown in the figure are all unstretched in the beginning when a man starts pulling the block. The man exerts a constant force F on the block. Find the amplitude and the frequency of the motion of the block.

Find the elastic potential energy stored in each spring shown in figure, when the block is in equilibrium. Also find the time period of vertical oscillation of the block.
A rectangle plate of sides a and b is suspended from a ceiling by two parallel string of length L each in Figure . The separation between the string is d. The plate is displaced slightly in its plane keeping the strings tight. Show that it will execute simple harmonic motion. Find the time period.

A 1 kg block is executing simple harmonic motion of amplitude 0.1 m on a smooth horizontal surface under the restoring force of a spring of spring constant 100 N/m. A block of mass 3 kg is gently placed on it at the instant it passes through the mean position. Assuming that the two blocks move together, find the frequency and the amplitude of the motion.

Find the elastic potential energy stored in each spring shown in figure when the block is in equilibrium. Also find the time period of vertical oscillation of the block.

Show that for a particle executing simple harmonic motion.
- the average value of kinetic energy is equal to the average value of potential energy.
- average potential energy = average kinetic energy = `1/2` (total energy)
Hint: average kinetic energy = <kinetic energy> = `1/"T" int_0^"T" ("Kinetic energy") "dt"` and
average potential energy = <potential energy> = `1/"T" int_0^"T" ("Potential energy") "dt"`
When a particle executing S.H.M oscillates with a frequency v, then the kinetic energy of the particle?
When the displacement of a particle executing simple harmonic motion is half its amplitude, the ratio of its kinetic energy to potential energy is ______.
If a body is executing simple harmonic motion and its current displacements is `sqrt3/2` times the amplitude from its mean position, then the ratio between potential energy and kinetic energy is:
A body is executing simple harmonic motion with frequency ‘n’, the frequency of its potential energy is ______.
A body is performing S.H.M. Then its ______.
- average total energy per cycle is equal to its maximum kinetic energy.
- average kinetic energy per cycle is equal to half of its maximum kinetic energy.
- mean velocity over a complete cycle is equal to `2/π` times of its π maximum velocity.
- root mean square velocity is times of its maximum velocity `1/sqrt(2)`.
Draw a graph to show the variation of P.E., K.E. and total energy of a simple harmonic oscillator with displacement.
The total energy of a particle, executing simple harmonic motion is ______.
where x is the displacement from the mean position, hence total energy is independent of x.
