THE HAPPY VALLEY SCHOOL

PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

Topic: SHM

Session: 2024-25
Submitted by: Ved Karwa
Submitted to: Mrs. Thejaswini
Class: 11th
Subject: Physics
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude and sincere to Mrs.

Priya Simon George (Principal) and Mrs. Swati Dixit
(Coordinator) of The Happy Valley School for their
encouragement and all the facilities that they provided to
carry out this project work. I express my sincere thanks to
Mrs. Thejaswini, our physics teacher, for her guidance to
the successful completion of this project. I take this
opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude for their
invaluable guidance, support, constant encouragement,
constructive comments, sympathetic attitude and immense
motivation. I can’t forget to offer my sincere thanks to my
classmates too who helped me to carry out the experiment
work successfully.
INDEX

Sr. No. Topic

1) Acknowledgement
2) Introduction
3) Equations of SHM
4) Simple Pendulum
5) Kinematics of SHM
6) Applications of SHM
7) Bibliography
TO STUDY SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION

Introduction:

When you pluck a guitar string, the resulting sound has a steady tone and lasts a
long time. The string vibrates around an equilibrium position, and one oscillation
is completed when the string starts from the initial position, travels to one of the
extreme positions, then to the other extreme position, and returns to its initial
position. We define periodic motion to be any motion that repeats itself at
regular time intervals, such as exhibited by the guitar string or by a child
swinging on a swing.

In mechanics and physics, simple harmonic motion (sometimes

abbreviated SHM) is a special type of periodic motion where the restoring
force on the moving object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
object's displacement and acts towards the object's equilibrium position. It results
in an oscillation which continues indefinitely, if uninhibited by friction or any
other dissipation of energy.

Simple harmonic motion can serve as a mathematical model for a variety of

motions, but is typified by the oscillation of a mass on a spring when it is subject
to the linear elastic restoring force given by Hooke's law. The motion
is sinusoidal in time and demonstrates a single resonant frequency.

Other phenomena can be modelled by simple harmonic motion, including the

motion of a simple pendulum, although for it to be an accurate model, the net
force on the object at the end of the pendulum must be proportional to the
displacement (and even so, it is only a good approximation when the angle of the
swing is small; see small-angle approximation). Simple harmonic motion can
also be used to model molecular vibration as well.
What is so significant about SHM?
For one thing, the period T and frequency f of a simple harmonic oscillator are
independent of amplitude. The string of a guitar, for example, oscillates with the
same frequency whether plucked gently or hard.

Two important factors do affect the period of a simple harmonic oscillator. The
period is related to how stiff the system is. A very stiff object has a large force
constant (k), which causes the system to have a smaller period. For example,
you can adjust a diving board’s stiffness—the stiffer it is, the faster it vibrates,
and the shorter its period. Period also depends on the mass of the oscillating
system. The more massive the system is, the longer the period. For example, a
heavy person on a diving board bounces up and down more slowly than a light
one. In fact, the mass m and the force constant k are the only factors that affect
the period and frequency of SHM. To derive an equation for the period and the
frequency, we must first define and analyse the equations of motion. The force
constant is sometimes referred to as the spring constant.

In the diagram, a simple harmonic oscillator, consisting of a weight attached to

one end of a spring, is shown. The other end of the spring is connected to a rigid
support such as a wall. If the system is left at rest at the equilibrium position,
then there is no net force acting on the mass. However, if the mass is displaced
from the equilibrium position, the spring exerts a restoring elastic force that
obeys Hooke's law.

Mathematically, the restoring force F is given by

where F is the restoring elastic force exerted by the spring (in SI units: N), k is
the spring constant (N·m−1), and x is the displacement from the equilibrium
position (m).
For any simple mechanical harmonic oscillator:

 When the system is displaced from its equilibrium position, a restoring

force that obeys Hooke's law tends to restore the system to equilibrium.
Once the mass is displaced from its equilibrium position, it experiences a net
restoring force. As a result, it accelerates and starts going back to the equilibrium
position. When the mass moves closer to the equilibrium position, the restoring
force decreases. At the equilibrium position, the net restoring force vanishes.
However, at x = 0, the mass has momentum because of the acceleration that the
restoring force has imparted. Therefore, the mass continues past the equilibrium
position, compressing the spring. A net restoring force then slows it down until
its velocity reaches zero, whereupon it is accelerated back to the equilibrium
position again.
As long as the system has no energy loss, the mass continues to oscillate. Thus,
simple harmonic motion is a type of periodic motion. If energy is lost in the
system, then the mass exhibits damped oscillation.
If the real space and phase space plot is not co-linear, the phase space motion
becomes elliptical. The area enclosed depends on the amplitude and the
maximum momentum.
Since the restoring force is proportional to displacement from equilibrium, both
the magnitude of the restoring force and the acceleration is the greatest at the
maximum points of displacement. The negative sign tells us that the force and
acceleration are in the opposite direction from displacement.

The mass's displacement, velocity, and acceleration over time can be visualized
in the graphs below
 EQUATIONS OF SHM

Consider a block attached to a spring on frictionless table. The equilibrium

position (the position where the spring is neither stretched nor compressed) is
marked as x=0. At the equilibrium position, the net force is zero.

A block is attached to a spring and placed on a frictionless table. The

equilibrium position, where the spring is neither extended nor compressed, is
marked as x=0
Work is done on the block to pull it out to a position of x=+A , and it is then
released from rest. The maximum x-position (A) is called the amplitude of the
motion. The block begins to oscillate in SHM between x = +A and x = −A,
where A is the amplitude of the motion and T is the period of the oscillation. The
period is the time for one oscillation. Figure shows the motion of the block as it
completes one and a half oscillations after release. Figure shows a plot of the
position of the block versus time. When the position is plotted versus time, it is
clear that the data can be modelled by a cosine function with an amplitude A and
a period T. The cosine function cosθ repeats every multiple of 2π, whereas the
motion of the block repeats every period T. However, the function
repeats every integer multiple of the period. The maximum of the cosine function
is one, so it is necessary to multiply the cosine function by the amplitude A.

The angular frequency equals ω=dθ/dt. In this case, the period is constant, so the

angular frequency is defined as 2π divided by the period,

 SIMPLE PENDULUM

The simple pendulum is another mechanical system that moves in an oscillatory

motion. It consists of a point mass ‘m’ suspended by means of light inextensible
string of length L from a fixed support. The motion occurs in a vertical plane and
is driven by a gravitational force.
The forces which are acting on the mass are shown in the figure. The tangential
component of the gravitational force, mg sin θ, always acts towards the mean
position θ = 0 opposite to the displacement, restoring force acting tangent to the
arc.
It is interesting to note that the time period of the real simple pendulum remains
constant even if the amplitude is changed but if the acceleration due to gravity
changes the time period of the simple pendulum also changes. This property is
also used to determine or verify acceleration due to gravity. The time period
also depends on the length of the string to which the Bob of the simple
pendulum is attached.
The oscillation of a simple pendulum can only be considered to be a simple
harmonic motion when the oscillation is small or the amplitude of oscillation is
very small as compared to two lengths of the string then by using small-angle
approximation the motion of a simple pendulum is considered a simple
harmonic motion.
When the bob is displaced by some angle then the pendulum starts the periodic
motion and for small value of angle of displacement the periodic motion is
simple harmonic motion with the angular displacement of the bob.

For small displacement sin θ ≅ θ and the motion of the

bob is along the arc. . Hence

or

The period of motion is given by

From the above equation, it is seen that the period and frequency of a simple
pendulum depend only on the length of the string and the value g.
Since the period is independent of the mass, a pendulum of equal length at the
same location oscillates with equal periods. The analogy between the simple
pendulum is the mass–spring system.
 KINEMATICS OF SIMPLE HARMONIC
MOTION

1) The Displacement Equation:

By definition, a particle is said to be in simple harmonic motion if its
displacement x from the centre point of the oscillations can be expressed
this way:

(1)
where ν is the frequency of the oscillation and t is the elapsed time since a
time when the displacement x was equal to A.
Example: Mass on Vertical Spring. We illustrate the above equation with
the example of an object with mass oscillating up and down at the end of a
vertical spring, as in the figure below. The displacement x is then the height
of the object, measured from the centre point of the oscillations. This height
needs to be at its maximum value at time zero since the equation produces x
(0) = A, which is the maximum value the displacement can have. We can
assure that this is true by measuring t on a stopwatch which we start at a
time when the object is precisely at the top point of its motion.
Alternatively, we can grab the mass and move it up to x = A, then let it go
at the exact time we start the stopwatch.

2) Displacement Equation Parameters:

The cosine function varies between −1 and +1 so the value of the
displacement from centre, x(t), varies between −A and +A. The maximum
 displacement, A, is called the “amplitude” of the motion. Typical units are
meters.
Typical units for the frequency are cycles per second, also called Hertz,
abbreviated Hz.
The quantity 2πνt, the argument of the cosine, is called the motion’s
“phase.” Typical units are radians and degrees. Although the phase has the
units of an angle, it does not usually correspond to a space angle in the
problem.
The time-derivative of the phase is called the “angular frequency” and is
denoted by the symbol ω:

This enables us to write Eq. (1) in a more succinct form:

3) The Oscillator’s period:

The “period” of the oscillation is defined as the amount of time it takes for the
oscillator to go through one complete oscillation or “cycle.” Since the cosine
function repeats itself whenever ωt is increased by 2π, it repeats itself whenever t
is increased by 2π/ω. This, then, is the period, T, of a SHO:

The period is the inverse of the frequency; that is,

 4) Velocity and Acceleration in SHM:
The velocity and acceleration of an SHO can be easily found by
differentiating the displacement equation, Eq. (2). The velocity is

And the acceleration is

So:
Above equation shows that an SHO’s acceleration is proportional and opposite to
its displacement. We have plotted x, v/ω, and a/ω2 as functions of time in Fig. 2.

5) SHM in a Scaled Phase Space:

In developing an understanding of the time-development of SHM, it is useful to
look at a plot of the oscillator’s displacement versus its velocity. At any specific
time, displacement and velocity each have a specific value and so determine a
point on the plot of displacement vs. velocity. As time goes on, the SHO’s
displacement and velocity change so the corresponding point on the plot moves
accordingly. Since the SHO’s displacement and velocity are cyclical, the point on
the plot traverses the same complete closed path once every cycle.

In order to simplify the SHO’s displacement vs. velocity trajectory, we scale the
velocity-axis by a factor of 1/ω (see Fig. 3). Then any SHO’s trajectory will be a
circle of radius A (as shown in Fig. 3). In this space, the SHO’s point is always at
the “phase” angle, δ, marked off clockwise from the positive x-axis (see Fig. 3).
As time increases the point representing the SHO moves around the circle of
radius A with constant angular velocity − ω (the minus sign merely means the
motion is clockwise). Its angular position at any particular time is the phase angle
at that time.
 DYNAMICS OF SHM

Force is Proportional and Opposite to Displacement.

Using Newton’s second law, F = ma, and, a = −ω2x, it is easy to find the force
necessary for a particle of mass m to oscillate with simple harmonic motion:

Note that the force on an SHO is linearly proportional to its displacement but has
the opposite sign. For a positive displacement the force is negative, pointing back
toward the origin. For a negative displacement, the force is positive, again
pointing back toward the origin. A force which is linear and always points back
to the place where F = 0 is called a “linear restoring force.” For simplicity we
write above equation in the form F = -kx. Where k is the force constant or spring
constant or spring stiffness for the particular oscillator being observed.

where m is the inertial mass of the oscillating body, x is its displacement from
the equilibrium (or mean) position, and k is a constant (the spring constant for a
mass on a spring).
Therefore,

Solving the differential equation above produces a solution that is a sinusoidal

function: where The meaning of the
constants c1 and c2 can be easily found: setting t=0 on the equation above we see
that x(0) = c1. So c1 is the initial position of the particle; taking the derivative of
that equation and evaluating at zero we get that x (0) = wc2. So that c2 is the
initial speed of the particle divided by the angular frequency,
Thus, we can write:

This equation can also be written in the form:

Where,

Or equivalently

POTENTIAL AND KINETIC ENERGY FOR

SHM

Knowing the force acting on an SHO, we can calculate its kinetic and potential
energy.
First, to obtain the potential energy we use F = −kx and the definition of
potential energy

Thus, the potential energy has its minimum value, zero, at x = 0.

The kinetic energy of the SHO is:

The kinetic energy is a maximum at x = 0 and is zero at the extremes of the

motion (x = ± A), as shown in Fig. 4.

Total Energy for SHM:

The total energy of a simple harmonic oscillator is:

which is a constant quantity (independent of time). Thus, during an oscillation, as

the potential energy increases and decreases, the kinetic energy decreases and
increases so the total energy remains constant. The potential energy curve, Ep =
kx2/2 (which is a parabola), and the total energy curve E = kA2/2 (which is a
horizontal line), are shown as functions of displacement in Fig. 5. The points
where the line and the curve intersect (x = ± A) are the limits of the motion.
 APPLICATIONS OF SIMPLE HARMONIC
MOTION:
Some of the real-world applications of SHM are as follows:

 Clock
 Musical Instruments
 Car Shock Absorbers
 Bungee Jumping
 Diving Board
 The Process of Hearing
 Metronome
 Earthquake-proof buildings

1. Clock

Either a pendulum or vibrating quartz maintains time in a clock. The motion of

the pendulum or quartz must be periodic to ensure accurate time.

2. Car Shock Absorbers

Springs attached to the wheels of cars are necessary for a smooth ride for the
passengers. When the car passes through a bump in the road, the wheels rose.
If there are no shock absorbers in the car, the whole car will be thrown up and
down, which makes it uncomfortable for the passengers.

3. Musical Instruments

Sound is produced from the oscillations of the air. In musical instruments like
violin and guitar, bowing and plucking of the string provides the necessary force
to make the string oscillate.
 GLOSSARY
• Amplitude: maximum value of displacement.
• Angular Frequency: time rate of change of the phase.
• Angular Velocity in SHM: the angular velocity of the SHO’s point in scaled
phase space. Its value is the negative of the SHO’s angular frequency ω.
• Displacement: position relative to the centre-point of the SHM.
• Frequency: number of complete cycles per unit time.
• Harmonic Function: a sine or cosine function.
• Oscillatory Motion: motion that exactly repeats itself periodically.
• Period: the time for one complete cycle.
• Phase: the argument of the harmonic function describing the SHM. Here we
have chosen the initial time to be when the displacement is at a maximum, so the
harmonic function is a cosine and its phase angle δ is ωt.
• Scaled Phase Space: a space in which the two axes are the SHO’s
displacement x and v/ω. The current state of an SHO is a point in this space. The
point continually traverses a circle of radius A with constant angular velocity −ω.
• Simple Harmonic Motion ≡ SHM: any motion whose time-dependence can be
described by a single harmonic function.
• Simple Harmonic Oscillator ≡ SHO: any object that is undergoing simple
harmonic motion.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.iitjeephysics4u.com/2019/07/dynamics-and-
kinematics-of-shm-basic.html
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/simple-
harmonic-motion
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_harmonic_motion
 https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/Pendulum/Pendula.
html#:~:text=A%20simple%20pendulum%20consists%20of,
and%20forth%20with%20periodic%20motion.
 https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-
1/pages/15-1-simple-harmonic-motion