Chapter 14

Vibrations
and
Waves
Hooke’s Law
 Fs = - k x
 Fs is the spring force
 k is the spring constant
 It is a measure of the stiffness of the spring
 A large k indicates a stiff spring and a small k
indicates a soft spring
 x is the displacement of the object from its
equilibrium position
 x = 0 at the equilibrium position
 The negative sign indicates that the force is
always directed opposite to the
displacement
 Hooke’s Law Force
 The force always acts toward the equilibrium
position.
 It is called the restoring force.
 A restoring force always pushes or pulls the
object toward the equilibrium position.
 The direction of the restoring force is such
that the object is being either pushed or
pulled toward the equilibrium position
 Hooke’s Law Applied to a
Spring – Mass System
 When x is positive (to the
right), F is negative (to
the left).
 When x = 0 (at
equilibrium), F is 0.
 When x is negative (to the
left), F is positive (to the
right).
Motion of the Spring-Mass
System
 Assume the object is initially pulled to a
distance A and released from rest
 As the object moves toward the
equilibrium position, F and a decrease,
but v increases
 At x = 0, F and a are zero, but v is a
maximum
 The object’s momentum causes it to
overshoot the equilibrium position
Motion of the Spring-Mass
System, cont
 The force and acceleration start to
increase in the opposite direction
and velocity decreases
 The motion momentarily comes to
a stop at x = - A
 It then accelerates back toward
the equilibrium position
 The motion continues indefinitely
 Simple Harmonic Motion
 Any object that repeats its motion at
regular time intervals is said to perform
a periodic or harmonic motion.
 If the motion is a sinusoidal function of
time, we call it simple harmonic
motion.
 This motion obeys Hooke’s Law
 The motion of a spring mass system is
an example of Simple Harmonic Motion
Amplitude
 Amplitude, A
 The amplitude is the maximum
position of the object relative to the
equilibrium position
 In the absence of friction, an object
in simple harmonic motion will
oscillate between the positions x =
±A
 Period
 The period, T, is the
time that it takes for
the object to complete
one complete cycle of
motion
 From x = A to x = - A
and back to x = A
 Frequency

Acceleration of an Object
in Simple Harmonic Motion
 Newton’s second law will relate force
and acceleration
 The force is given by Hooke’s Law
 F=-kx=ma
 a = -kx / m
 The acceleration is a function of position
 Acceleration is not constant and therefore
the uniformly accelerated motion equation
cannot be applied
Elastic Potential Energy
 A compressed spring has potential
energy:
 The compressed spring, when allowed
to expand, can apply a force to an
object,
 The potential energy of the spring
can be transformed into kinetic
energy of the object.
Elastic Potential Energy,
cont
 The energy stored in a stretched or
compressed spring or other elastic
material is called elastic potential
energy
 PEs = ½kx2
 The energy is stored only when the
spring is stretched or compressed
 Elastic potential energy can be added to
the statements of Conservation of
Energy and Work-Energy
 Energy in a Spring Mass
System
 A block sliding on a
frictionless system
collides with a light
spring.
 The block attaches to
the spring.
 The system oscillates
in Simple Harmonic
Motion.
Energy Transformations

 The block is moving on a frictionless surface.

 The total mechanical energy of the system is
the kinetic energy of the block.
Energy Transformations, 2

 The spring is partially compressed

 The energy is shared between kinetic energy
and elastic potential energy
 The total mechanical energy is the sum of the
kinetic energy and the elastic potential energy
Energy Transformations, 3

 The spring is now fully compressed

 The block momentarily stops
 The total mechanical energy is stored
as elastic potential energy of the spring
Energy Transformations, 4

 When the block leaves the spring, the total

mechanical energy is in the kinetic energy of
the block
 The spring force is conservative and the total
energy of the system remains constant
Velocity as a Function of
Position
 Conservation of Energy allows a
calculation of the velocity of the object
at any position in its motion
k
v 
m

A2  x 2 
 Speed is a maximum at x = 0
 Speed is zero at x = ±A
 The ± indicates the object can be traveling
in either direction
Simple Harmonic Motion
and Uniform Circular Motion
 A ball is attached to the
rim of a turntable of
radius A
 The focus is on the
shadow that the ball
casts on the screen
 When the turntable
rotates with a constant
angular speed, the
shadow moves in simple
harmonic motion
Simple Harmonic Motion
and Uniform Circular Motion

Period and Frequency from
Circular Motion
m
 Period T  2
k
 This gives the time required for an object of
mass m attached to a spring of constant k
to complete one cycle of its motion

1 1 k
 Frequency ƒ  
T 2 m
 Units are cycles/second or Hertz, Hz
Angular Frequency
 The angular frequency is related to the
frequency
k
  2 ƒ 
m
 The frequency gives the number of
cycles per second
 The angular frequency gives the
number of radians per second
Effective Spring Mass
 A graph of T2 versus m does not
pass through the origin
 The spring has mass and oscillates
 For a cylindrical spring, the
effective additional mass of a light
spring is 1/3 the mass of the
spring
Motion as a Function of
Time
 Use of a reference
circle allows a
description of the
motion
 x = A cos (2ƒt)
 x is the position at
time t
 x varies between
+A and -A
 Graphical Representation
of Motion
 When x is a maximum
or minimum, velocity is
zero
 When x is zero, the
velocity is a maximum
 When x is a maximum
in the positive direction,
a is a maximum in the
negative direction
Motion Equations
 Remember, the uniformly
accelerated motion equations
cannot be used
 x = A cos (2ƒt) = A cos t
 v = -2ƒA sin (2ƒt) = -A  sin t
 a = -42ƒ2A cos (2ƒt) =
-A2 cos t
 Verification of Sinusoidal
Nature
 This experiment
shows the sinusoidal
nature of simple
harmonic motion
 The spring mass
system oscillates in
simple harmonic
motion
 The attached pen
traces out the
sinusoidal motion
 Simple Pendulum
 The simple pendulum
is another example of
simple harmonic
motion.
 The force is the
component of the
weight tangent to the
path of motion:
 Ft = - m g sin θ
Simple Pendulum, cont
 In general, the motion of a pendulum is
not simple harmonic
 However, for small angles, it becomes
simple harmonic
 In general, angles < 15° are small enough
 sin θ = θ
 Ft = - m g θ
 This force obeys Hooke’s Law
Period of Simple Pendulum
L
T  2
g
 This shows that the period is
independent of the amplitude
 The period depends on the length
of the pendulum and the
acceleration of gravity at the
location of the pendulum
Simple Pendulum Compared
to a Spring-Mass System
 Physical Pendulum
 A physical pendulum
can be made from an
object of any shape.
 The center of mass
oscillates along a
circular arc.
Period of a Physical
Pendulum
 The period of a physical pendulum is
given by
I
T  2
mgL
 I is the object’s moment of inertia
 m is the object’s mass
 For a simple pendulum, I = mL2 and the
equation becomes that of the simple
pendulum as seen before
Damped Oscillations
 Only ideal systems oscillate
indefinitely
 In real systems, friction retards
the motion
 Friction reduces the total energy of
the system and the oscillation is
said to be damped
 Damped Oscillations, cont.
 Damped motion varies
depending on the fluid
used
 With a low viscosity fluid,
the vibrating motion is
preserved, but the
amplitude of vibration
decreases in time and the
motion ultimately ceases
 This is known as
underdamped oscillation
More Types of Damping
 With a higher viscosity, the object
returns rapidly to equilibrium after it is
released and does not oscillate
 The system is said to be critically damped
 With an even higher viscosity, the
piston returns to equilibrium without
passing through the equilibrium
position, but the time required is longer
 This is said to be over damped
 Graphs of Damped
Oscillators
 Plot a shows an
underdamped
oscillator.
 Plot b shows a critically
damped oscillator.
 Plot c shows an
overdamped oscillator.
 Wave Motion
 A wave is the motion of a disturbance
 Mechanical waves require
 Some source of disturbance
 A medium that can be disturbed
 Some physical connection between or
mechanism though which adjacent portions
of the medium influence each other
 All waves carry energy and momentum
 Types of Waves – Traveling
Waves
 Flip one end of a long
rope that is under
tension and fixed at
one end.
 The pulse travels to
the right with a
definite speed.
 A disturbance of this
type is called a
traveling wave.
Types of Waves –
Transverse
 In a transverse wave, each element
that is disturbed moves in a direction
perpendicular to the wave motion
Types of Waves –
Longitudinal
 In a longitudinal wave, the elements of
the medium undergo displacements
parallel to the motion of the wave
 A longitudinal wave is also called a
compression wave
Other Types of Waves
 Waves may be a combination of
transverse and longitudinal
 A soliton consists of a solitary
wave front that propagates in
isolation
 First studied by John Scott Russell in
1849
 Now used widely to model physical
phenomena
 Waveform – A Picture of a
Wave
 The brown curve is a
“snapshot” of the wave
at some instant in time
 The blue curve is later
in time
 The high points are
crests of the wave
 The low points are
troughs of the wave
Longitudinal Wave
Represented as a Sine Curve
 A longitudinal wave can also be represented as
a sine curve
 Compressions correspond to crests and
stretches correspond to troughs
 Also called density waves or pressure waves
Description of a Wave
 A steady stream of
pulses on a very
long string produces
a continuous wave
 The blade oscillates
in simple harmonic
motion
 Each small segment
of the string, such as
P, oscillates with
simple harmonic
motion
 Amplitude and Wavelength
 Amplitude is the
maximum displacement
of string above the
equilibrium position.
 Wavelength, λ, is the
distance between two
successive points that
behave identically.
Speed of a Wave
 v=ƒλ
 Is derived from the basic speed
equation of distance/time
 This is a general equation that can
be applied to many types of waves
Speed of a Wave on a
String
 The speed on a wave stretched
under some tension, F
F m
v  where m 
m L
 m is called the linear density
 The speed depends only upon the
properties of the medium through
which the disturbance travels
Interference of Waves
 Two traveling waves can meet and pass
through each other without being
destroyed or even altered
 Waves obey the Superposition Principle
 If two or more traveling waves are moving
through a medium, the resulting wave is
found by adding together the displacements
of the individual waves point by point
 Actually only true for waves with small
amplitudes
 Constructive Interference
 Two waves, a and b,
have the same
frequency and
amplitude;
 Are in phase.
 The combined wave,
c, has the same
frequency and a
greater amplitude.
Constructive Interference
in a String

 Two pulses are traveling in opposite directions

 The net displacement when they overlap is the
sum of the displacements of the pulses
 Note that the pulses are unchanged after the
interference
 Destructive Interference
 Two waves, a and b, have
the same amplitude and
frequency.
 They are 180° out of
phase.
 When they combine, the
waveforms cancel.
Destructive Interference in
a String

 Two pulses are traveling in opposite directions

 The net displacement when they overlap is
decreased since the displacements of the
pulses subtract
 Note that the pulses are unchanged after the
interference
 Reflection of Waves –
Fixed End
 Whenever a traveling
wave reaches a boundary,
some or all of the wave is
reflected.
 When it is reflected from
a fixed end, the wave is
inverted.
 The shape remains the
same.
Reflected Wave – Free End

 When a traveling wave reaches a

boundary, all or part of it is reflected
 When reflected from a free end, the
pulse is not inverted