1

Physics For
Engineers
NS (1001)
Oscillations
 Oscillatory motion
A

Motion which is periodic in time, that is, motion that repeats itself in time.

Examples:
• Power line oscillates when the wind blows past it
• Earthquake oscillations move buildings

Sometimes the oscillations are so severe, that the system exhibiting oscillations break
apart.
Simple Harmonic Motion
 Simple harmonic motion (SHM) refers to
a certain kind of oscillatory, or wave-like
motion that describes the behavior of
many physical phenomena:
 a pendulum
 a bob attached to a spring
 low amplitude waves in air (sound), water,
the ground
 the electromagnetic field of laser light
 vibration of a plucked guitar string
 the electric current of most AC power
supplies
 Simple Harmonic Motion
When the block is displaced a small
distance x from equilibrium, the
spring exerts on the block a force
that is proportional to the
displacement and given by Hoo ke’s
law

An object moves with simple

harmonic motion whenever its
acceleration is proportional to its
displacement from some equilibrium
position and is oppositely directed.
 Simple Harmonic Motion

In the figure snapshots of a simple

oscillatory system is shown. A particle
repeatedly moves back and forth about
the point x=0.

The time taken for one complete

oscillation is the period, T. In the time
of one T, the system travels from
x=+xm, to –xm, and then back to its
original position xm.

The velocity vector arrows are scaled

to indicate the magnitude of the speed
of the system at different times. At
x=±xm, the velocity is zero.
 Simple Harmonic Motion

Frequency of oscillation is the number of oscillations that are

completed in each second.

The symbol for frequency is f, and the SI unit is the hertz

(abbreviated as Hz).

It follows that
1
T
f
 Simple Harmonic Motion

Any motion that repeats itself is periodic or harmonic.

If the motion is a sinusoidal function of time, it is called simple

harmonic motion (SHM).

Mathematically SHM can be expressed as:

x (t ) x m cos(t   )
Here,
•xm is the amplitude (maximum displacement of the system)
•t is the time
• is the angular frequency, and
• is the phase constant or phase angle
 Simple Harmonic Motion

Figure a plots the displacement of two

SHM systems that are different in
amplitudes, but have the same period.

Figure b plots the displacement of two

SHM systems which are different in
periods but have the same amplitude.

The value of the phase constant term, ,

depends on the value of the
displacement and the velocity of the
system at time t = 0.

Figure c plots the displacement of two

SHM systems having the same period
and amplitude, but different phase
constants.
 Simple Harmonic Motion

For an oscillatory motion with period T,

x (t ) x (t  T )

The cosine function also repeats itself when the argument

increases by 2. Therefore,

 (t  T ) t  2
 T 2
2
 2f
T
Here,  is the angular frequency, and measures the angle
per unit time. Its SI unit is radians/second. To be
consistent,  then must be in radians.
 Simple Harmonic Motion

The velocity of SHM:

dx (t ) d
v (t )   x m cos(t   
dt dt
 v (t )  x m sin(t  
The maximum value (amplitude) of velocity
is xm. The phase shift of the velocity is /2,
making the cosine to a sine function.

The acceleration of SHM is:

dv (t ) d
a(t )    x m sin(t   )
dt dt
 a(t )   2 x m cos(t   )
 a(t )   2 x (t )
The acceleration amplitude is 2xm.

In SHM a(t) is proportional to the displacement but opposite in

sign.
 Force Law for SHM

From Newton’s 2nd law:

F ma  (m ) x  kx 2

SHM is the motion executed by a system subject to a

force that is proportional to the displacement of the
system but opposite in sign.
 Force Law for SHM

The block-spring system shown

on the right forms a linear SHM
oscillator.

The spring constant of the

spring, k, is related to the
angular frequency, , of the
oscillator:

k m
  T 2
m k
Phase (Time) Phase Diffference
 Energy in SHM
The potential energy of a linear oscillator
is associated entirely with the spring.
1 1
U (t )  kx 2  kxm cos 2 t   
2

2 2
The kinetic energy of the system is
associated entirely with the speed of
the block.
1 1 1
K (t )  mv 2  m 2 x m sin 2 t     kx m sin 2 t   
2 2

2 2 2

The total mechanical energy of the

system:
1 2
E U  K  kxm
2
 SHM and uniform circular motion

Consider a reference particle P’ moving in

uniform circular motion with constant angular
speed (w).

The projection of the particle on the x-axis is

a point P, describing motion given by:
x (t ) x m cos(t   ).
This is the displacement equation of SHM.

SHM, therefore, is the projection of

uniform circular motion on a diameter of
the circle in which the circular motion
occurs.
Uniform circular motion can be
considered a combination of two
simple harmonic motions, one along
the x axis and one along the y axis,
with the two differing in phase by
90°.

http://surendranath.tripod.com/Applets/
Oscillations/SHM/SHM.html
 Pendulums

In a simple pendulum, a particle of mass

m is suspended from one end of an
unstretchable massless string of length L
that is fixed at the other end.

The restoring torque acting on the mass

when its angular displacement is , is:
  L( Fg sin  ) I
 is the angular acceleration of the
mass. Finally, mgL
   , and
I
L
T 2
g
This is true for small angular displacements, .
 Damped Oscillations

In a damped oscillation, the

motion of the oscillator is
reduced by an external force.

Example: A block of mass m

oscillates vertically on a spring
with spring constant k.
From the block a rod extends to
a vane which is submerged in a
liquid.
The liquid provides the external
damping force, Fd.
 Damped Oscillations

Often the damping force, Fd, is proportional

to the 1st power of the velocity v. That is,

The solution is:

 Damped SHM

Often the damping force, Fd, is proportional

to the 1st power of the velocity v. That is,
Fd  bv
From Newton’s 2nd law, the following DE results:
d 2x dx
m 2 b  kx 0
dt dt

The solution is:

 bt
x (t ) x m e 2m
cos( ' t   )

Here ’ is the angular frequency, and is given by:

k b2
'  
m 4m 2
http://www.lon-capa.org/~mmp/applist/damped/d.htm
15.5 Damped Oscillations

The above figure shows the displacement function

x(t) for the damped oscillator described before.
The amplitude decreases as x0 exp (-t / 2m) with
time.
# The above is for  < 2m (underdapmed).
0

# For  > 2m0 (overdapmed)

and  = 2m0 (critical damping),
the oscillation goes like the right
figure.
In many real systems, dissipative forces, such as friction,
retard the motion.
Consequently, the mechanical energy of the system
diminishes in time, and the
motion is said to be Damped.
Retarding force

http://www.lon-capa.org/~mmp/applist/damped/d.htm
 Forced Oscillations and Resonance
When the oscillator is subjected to an external force
that is periodic, the oscillator will exhibit
forced/driven oscillations.

There are two frequencies involved in a forced

oscillator:
I.w0, the natural angular frequency of the oscillator,
without the presence of any external force, and
II.we, the angular frequency of the applied external
force.

The equation of motion is like the following:

Forced Oscillations and Resonance

The steady state solution is

Resonance occurs at
e ~ max < 0 , for
Example (Mass-Spring System)

Periodic
driving
force of
freq. f
Oscillating
with
natural freq.
fo
 Resonance

When a system is disturbed by a periodic

driving force which frequency is equal to
the natural frequency ( fo ) of the system
the system will oscillate with LARGE
amplitude.

Resonance is said to occur.

http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/feschools/waves/shm3.htm
Example 1

Breaking Glass

System : glass

Driving Force :
sound wave
 Example 2

Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows

suspension bridge in America in 1940

System : bridge
Driving Force :
strong wind
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
46

An oscillator consists of a block attached to a

spring (k=400 N/m). At some time t, the position
(measured from the system’s equilibrium location),
velocity, and acceleration of the block are
x =0.100 m, v =13.6 m/s, and a= -123 m/s2 .
Calculate (a) the frequency of oscillation, (b) the
mass of the block, and (c) the amplitude of the
motion `
Example