Unit 6: Oscillations

Simple harmonic motion

A type of periodic motion in which the restoring force is proportional to the displacement from equilibrium position and acts in the opposite direction to the displacement.

Hooke’s Law

The force required to extend or compress a spring is proportional to its displacement from its equilibrium position.

a spring with spring constant k, the elastic potential energy it possesses—relative to its equilibrium position

Oscillation

The back-and-forth motion of an object about its equilibrium position.

Amplitude

The maximum displacement of an oscillating object from its equilibrium position.

Period

The time taken by an oscillating object to complete one cycle of motion.

Frequency

The number of cycles per unit time of an oscillating object.

Restoring force

The force that brings an oscillating object back to its equilibrium position.

Spring constant

The constant that relates the force exerted by a spring to its displacement from its equilibrium position.

Angular frequency

The rate at which an oscillating object completes one cycle of motion in radians per unit time.

Phase angle

The initial angle of an oscillating object at the start of its motion.

Resonance

A phenomenon in which an object is forced to vibrate at its natural frequency due to the application of an external force at the same frequency.

simple pendulum

Consists of a weight of mass m attached to a massless rod that swings, without friction, about the vertical equilibrium position.

the magnitude of the restoring force when the bob is θ to an angle to the vertical