Circular Motion and SHM

What are the two conditions required for an object to oscillate with SHM?

1. The restoring force is directly proportional to the displacement.

2. The restoring force always acts towards the equilibrium position.

What is angular frequency?

Angular frequency is a measure of the rate of rotation of an object.

Give two equations for angular frequency

⍵= 2π/T

⍵= 2πf

What are the two types of oscillations that an object can experience?

1. Free oscillations

2. Forced oscillations

What is the frequency of a freely oscillating object equal to?

Freely oscillating object will vibrate at their natural frequency.

What is resonance?

Resonance is where the amplitude of oscillations of an object drastically increase due to gaining an increased amount of energy from the driving force. This occurs when the driving frequency equals the natural frequency of the object.

What can be said about an object undergoing resonance?

The object will be oscillating at its maximum amplitude and the rate of energy transfer is at a maximum.

What is Damping?

Damping occurs when energy is lost from an oscillating system due to an external force acting on it.

What are the three types of damping?

1. Light Damping

2. Critical Damping

3. Heavy Damping

What is critical damping?

Critical damping is when the damping causes the object to return to the equilibrium position in the quickest time possible without oscillating

State the equation for the total energy stored in a simple harmonic oscillator

Energy stored = ½ kA² Where k is the spring constant, and A is the amplitude.

If an object is travelling with circular motion, what can be said about its acceleration?

The acceleration always acts towards the centre of the circular path.

What is the name given to the force causing circular motion?

Centripetal Force

State the equation involving linear velocity that is used to calculate a centripetal force

F = mv²/r

F is the centripetal force, m is the mass of the object, v is the linear velocity of the object, r is the radius of the circular path.

State the equation involving angular velocity that is used to calculate a centripetal force.

F = mr⍵²

⍵ is the angular velocity