Assignment#01 Oscillation duration: 2 weeks

Course: Physics (PH101)

Instructions
Assignment (solutions) soft copy must be emailed to “[email protected]”.

It is mandatory that the top of the first page of the Assignment answer sheet
must contain (1) Assignment No., (2) Branch name, (3) Student’s ID and
(4) Student’s name, and the rest of pages must contain ID at the top right
corner; you should start answering questions from first page which includes
above items.
Answer sheet will not be considered for evaluation, if above items are found
missing.

1. A spring-mass system, with spring constant ‘k’ and mass ‘m’, is performing the simple
harmonic oscillation (SHO) on a horizontal surface; the solution for the equation of
motion of such system is x(t) = A cos(ω0 t + θ), where, x, A, ω0 and θ are, respectively,
position, maximum amplitude, angular frequency and initial phase of the oscillator.
(a) Calculate x(t), v(t), a(t), Ep and Ek of such oscillator, for θ = π/2, at time t = 0,
T /4, T /2, 3T /4 and T , where T is the time period of the oscillator.
(b) Draw schematic plots for above variables with respect to time; also label axes.
2. A spring of 10 cm length is fixed to the ceiling. When a body of mass 1 kg is hanged
at the free end, its length become 12 cm. Calculate the spring constant of the spring.
3. A 5 kg body extends a spring 15 cm from its unstretched position. The body is
removed and a 1 kg body is hung from the same spring. The body is pulled and
released. Calculate the time period of oscillation of the body.
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4. The differential equation of a simple harmonic oscillator is 2 ddt2x + 18π 2 x = 0. Calculate
the natural frequency of the oscillator.
5. A body oscillates with simple harmonic motion obeying the equation y = 12 cos(0.7πt+
π/5) meters. Calculate velocity and acceleration of the body at time t = 3 seconds.
Also, calculate the frequency and time period of the harmonic motion.
6. The displacement of a simple harmonic oscillator of mass 5 gram is x(t) = 2 cos(0.6t+θ),
where x and t are in cm and sec, respectively. Calculate the maximum kinetic energy
of the oscillator.
7. A harmonic oscillator of mass 20 g and force constant 80 N/m is displaced by 0.8 cm
from the mean/equilibrium position and released to execute simple harmonic oscillation.
Find its amplitude, frequency, time period, maximum speed, total energy, initial phase
and kinetic energy when it is half way between the equilibrium position and an extreme
position.

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Assignment#01 Oscillation duration: 2 weeks

8. Show that the displacement versus velocity graph for a simple harmonic oscillator is
an ellipse.
9. A body performs damped harmonic oscillation according to the equation x = re−γt cos(ωt+
θ). Calculate amplitude r and initial phase θ of the oscillator, if at time t = 0 the dis-
placement of the body and its velocity are x(0) = 0 and v(0) = u, respectively.
10. A body performs damped harmonic oscillation according to the equation x = re−γt sin(ωt).
Calculate the amplitude and velocity of the oscillator at time t = 0; also, calculate the
moments of time at which body reaches the extreme positions.
11. The natural frequency of a simple harmonic oscillator of mass 2 gram is 0.8 rad/s.
It undergoes critically damped oscillation when taken to a viscous medium. Find the
damping force on the oscillator when its speed is 0.2 cm/s.
12. The time period of a simple harmonic oscillator is 2 seconds. It is subjected to a
damping force proportional to speed, with damping coefficient β = 1 s−1 . Find the
time period. What should be the value of β for the motion to be critically damped?
13. A simple harmonic oscillator of mass 10 g is subjected to a restoring force of force
constant 90 dyn/cm. Find the time period of the oscillator. If it is subjected to a
damping force proportional to the velocity; what is the maximum value of damping
constant for which the motion will remain oscillatory?
14. A harmonic oscillator of mass m and the force constant k is placed in a viscous liquid so
that its motion is critical damped. The oscillator is displaced by x0 from its equilibrium
position and then released from rest. Find an expression for the maximum velocity of
the oscillator. How long does it take to attain the maximum velocity?
15. Two forced harmonic oscillators have same displacement amplitudes at the natural
frequencies ω1 = 400 s−1 and ω2 = 800 s−1 . Calculate the resonant frequency at which
the displacement is maximum.
16. Two identical oscillators of mass 1 kg and spring constant 1 N/m are connected by a
central spring of spring constant 3 N/m as shown in Figure 1. Calculate the frequency
of normal modes of such coupled oscillator.

Figure 1: Spring-mass coupled oscillatory system.

17. Two identical rectangular blocks of mass 1 kg are connected independently to two rigid
supports by identical springs so as to oscillate along a line on a horizontal, frictionless,
table. The two blocks are connected by another spring and oscillate as a coupled
system. The angular frequencies of the normal mode of oscillation are ω1 = 16 rad/s
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and ω2 = 20 rad/s. Evaluate the force constants of the springs.

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Assignment#01 Oscillation duration: 2 weeks

18. Two identical pendulums of mass m and length l are coupled by a spring of spring
constant k as shown in Figure 2. Find the expression for angular frequency of normal
modes of vibration of the coupled system.

Figure 2: Coupled pendula.

19. Two pendulums of mass 50 kg each are suspended by massless rigid rods of length
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1 m each. The two masses are coupled by a massless spring of force constant k =
250 dyn/cm. Determine the normal mode frequencies of the coupled oscillator.
20. An oscillator of unit mass and 4 rad/s natural frequency is subjected to a damping force,
which is proportional to the velocity of the oscillator; the constant of proportionality is
10/s. Show that the oscillator is over damped and the general solution for displacement
is y = Ae−2t + Be−8t .
21. Derive the expression for average energy (Eavg ) of the forced oscillator in terms of m,
ω0 , ω, γ and F0 ; here, m, ω0 and γ represent mass of the oscillator, natural frequency
of the oscillator and damping coefficient, respectively; ω and F0 are, respectively, the
frequency and amplitude of the external force associated with the oscillator.
22. show the average energy (Eavg ) of damped oscillator, under very weak damping, is
t
Eavg ≈ E0 e− τ . Here, E0 = 12 mω02 A2 is the initial energy of the oscillator, and τ , which
1
is equal to 2γ (or, mb ), represents a characteristic time of the oscillator at which the
energy of the oscillator falls by a factor 1e of its initial value.