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H Ode

The document describes the behavior of a mass-spring oscillator system. It begins by deriving the governing differential equation that describes the motion as my'' + by' + ky = Fext, where m is the mass, b is a damping constant, k is the spring constant, and Fext is any external force. It then examines some specific cases: 1) Without friction or external forces, the solution is simple harmonic motion with angular frequency ω = √(k/m). 2) With damping but no external forces, the solution is damped oscillatory motion with exponential decay. 3) A highly damped case leads to overdamped behavior with no oscillations. 4)

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24 views3 pages

H Ode

The document describes the behavior of a mass-spring oscillator system. It begins by deriving the governing differential equation that describes the motion as my'' + by' + ky = Fext, where m is the mass, b is a damping constant, k is the spring constant, and Fext is any external force. It then examines some specific cases: 1) Without friction or external forces, the solution is simple harmonic motion with angular frequency ω = √(k/m). 2) With damping but no external forces, the solution is damped oscillatory motion with exponential decay. 3) A highly damped case leads to overdamped behavior with no oscillations. 4)

Uploaded by

Asd Ttt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Mass-Spring Oscillator

June 14, 2016

1 Deriving the Governing Equation


We being with Newton’s second law
d2 y
F = ma = m = my 00 .
dt2
Hooke’s law is a principle of physics that states that the force F needed to extend or compress a spring
by some distance y is proportional to that distance and opposes the direction of the force.
Fspring = −ky.
The constant of proportionality k is called the spring constant.
Practically all mechanical systems also experience friction. Here, the force is typically modeled by a term
proportional to velocity and again and opposes the direction of the force.
dy
Ffriction = −b = −by 0
dt
The constant of proportionality b is called the damping constant.
Finally the spring may be subject to external forces like gravity or direct forcing. We will indicate this
by Fexternal . Taken together, we have a second order linear ordinary differential equation
my 00 + by 0 + ky = Fext .
This is the differential equation that governs the motion of a mass-spring oscillator.

2 Behavior without Friction


To start, we consider on external force and no friction,
my 00 + ky = 0.
Because this is meant to model the action of a spring, so we look for a solution of the form y(t) = A cos ωt
and look to determine the angular frequency, ω. Then,
mAω 2 cos ωt − kA cos ωt = (mω 2 − k)cosωt.
Thus, p
ω 2 = k/m, ω= k/m.
So the angular frequency,

1
• increases with k. Stiffer spring oscillate faster.
• decreases with m. More massive springs oscillate slower.

3 Behavior with Friction


3.1 Damped Oscillatory Behavior
If we add damping, then we have the differential equation.

my 00 + by 0 + ky = 0. (1)

If we assume that damping results in an exponential damping to the oscillator.

y(t) = Ae−t cos t. (2)


0 −t −t −t
y (t) = A(e (− sin t) + (−e cos t) = Ae (− sin t − cos t)
00
y (t) = Ae ((− cos t + sin t) − (− sin t − cos t)) = Ae−t (2 sin t)
−t

Take m = 1, b = 2, and k = 2.

y 00 = Ae−t (2 sin t))


2y 0 = Ae−t ((−2 cos t)+ (−2 sin t))
2y = Ae−t (−2 cos t)

and, consequently,
y 00 + 2y 0 + 2y = 0. (3)
Thus, (2) is a solution to (3). p √
Notice that for the case of no damping (b = 0), a solution has frequency ω0 = k/m = 2. This is
greater that the frequency of the damped oscillator ω = 1.

3.2 Overdamped Behavior


If we take y(t) = Ae−t , then
y 00 = Ae−t
2y 0 = −2Ae−t
y = Ae−t
and, we have a solution to (1) with m = 1, b = 2, and k = 1 that does not have any oscillatory behavior.
Thus, in reducing the stiffness of the spring from k = 2 to k = 1, the friction force in more dominating and
the spring no longer oscillates.

4 External Force
Let’s return to the equation that models damped oscillatory behavior subject to a sinusoidal forcing, fre-
quency γ

2
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4

0 1 2 3 4

omega

Figure 1: A (in black) and B (in red) as a function of γ.

y 00 + 2y 0 + 2y = sin γt
and look for a solution
y = A sin γt + B cos γt
Then,
2y(t) = 2A sin γt + 2B cos γt
2y 0 (t) = 2Aγ cos γt − 2Bγ sin γt
y 00 (t) = −Aγ 2 sin γt − Bγ 2 cos γt
Adding, we obtain
(2A − 2Bγ − Aγ 2 ) sin γt + (2B + 2Aγ − Bγ 2 ) cos γt = sin γt
Thus,
A(2 − γ 2 ) − 2Bγ = 1 and B(2 − γ 2 ) + 2Aγ = 0
Exercise 1. Show that
2 − γ2 −2γ
A= and B=
(2 − γ 2 )2 + 4γ 2 (2 − γ 2 )2 + 4γ 2

We will spend some time look at the behavior of second order linear ordinary differential equation with
constant coefficients and then return to a more detailed analysis of the mass-spring oscillator.

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