SHM –multiple choice items .

1. An object undergoing simple harmonic motion (SHM) has a period T and total energy E. The
amplitude of oscillations is halved. What are the new period and total energy of the system?

2. A mass at the end of a vertical spring and a simple pendulum perform oscillations on Earth that are
simple harmonic with time period T. Both the pendulum and the mass-spring system are taken to the
Moon. The acceleration of free fall on the Moon is smaller than that on Earth. What is correct about the
time periods of the pendulum and the mass-spring system on the Moon?

3. A simple pendulum bob oscillates as shown.

At which position is the resultant force on the pendulum bob zero?

A. At position A B. At position B

C. At position C D. Resultant force is never zero during the oscillation

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4. A spring loaded with mass m oscillates with simple harmonic motion. The amplitude of the motion is
A and the spring has total energy E. What is the total energy of the spring when the mass is increased to
3m and the amplitude is increased to 2A?

A. 2E B. 4E C. 12E D. 18E

5. A pendulum oscillating near the surface of the Earth swings with a time period T. What is the time
period of the same pendulum near the surface of the planet Mercury where the gravitational field
strength is 0.4g?

A. 0.4T B. 0.6T C. 1.6T D. 2.5T

6. A mass oscillates with simple harmonic motion (SHM) of amplitude xo. Its total energy is16J.

What is the kinetic energy of the mass when its displacement is ?

A. 4 J B. 8 J C. 12 J D. 16 J

7. A particle is oscillating with simple harmonic motion (shm) of amplitude x0 and maximum kinetic
energy Ek. What is the potential energy of the system when the particle is a distance 0.20x0 from its
maximum displacement?

A. 0.20Ek B. 0.36Ek C. 0.64Ek D. 0.80Ek

8. A mass is connected to a spring on a frictionless horizontal surface as shown.

The spring is extended beyond its equilibrium length and the mass executes simple harmonic motion
(SHM). Which of the following is independent of the initial displacement of the spring?

A. The angular frequency of the oscillation

B. The total energy of the mass

C. The average speed of the mass

D. The maximum kinetic energy of the mass

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9. A simple pendulum has mass M and length l. The period of oscillation of the pendulum is T. What is
the period of oscillation of a pendulum with mass 4M and length 0.25l?

A. 0.5T B. T C. 2T D. 4T

10. The period of vertical oscillation of a mass-spring system is T when the spring carries a mass of
1.00 kg. What mass should be added to the 1.00 kg if the period is to be increased to 1.50 T?

A 0.25kg B 1.00kg C 1.25kg D 2.00kg

11. The period of a particle undergoing simple harmonic motion (SHM) is .

The ratio is proportional to

A. . B. . C. . D.

12. A particle of mass oscillates with simple harmonic motion (SHM) of angular frequency . The
amplitude of the SHM is . What is the kinetic energy of the particle when it is half way between the
equilibrium position and one extreme of the motion?

A. B. C. D.

13. The bob of a pendulum has an initial displacement 0 to the right. The bob is released and allowed
to oscillate. The graph shows how the displacement varies with time. At which point is the velocity of
the bob at maximum towards the right?

14. A particle undergoes simple harmonic motion (SHM) of maximum kinetic energy Emax and
amplitude x0. The particle is released from rest at its maximum displacement amplitude.

What is the change in the kinetic energy when the particle has travelled a distance of ?

A. B. C. D.

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15. A body moves with simple harmonic motion (SHM) with period T and total energy ET. What is the
total energy when the period of the motion is changed to 5T and the amplitude of the motion remains
constant?

A. 0.04 ET B. 0.2 ET C. 5 ET D. 25 ET

16. A small point mass m is placed at the same distance from two identical fixed spherical masses far
from any other masses.

The point mass is released from rest. The point mass will

A. move upwards.
B. stay where it is.
C. move towards P and stop there.
D. oscillate about point P.

17. A particle executes simple harmonic motion (SHM) with period T.

Which sketch graph correctly shows how the total energy E of the particle varies with time t from t = 0
to ?

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18. A particle P executes simple harmonic
motion (SHM) about its equilibrium position Y.

The amplitude of the motion is XY.

At which of the positions shown on the diagram is the acceleration of P equal to zero and the kinetic
energy of P equal to zero?

19. Which graph shows how velocity v varies with displacement x of a system moving with simple
harmonic motion?

20. An object undergoes simple harmonic motion with time period T and amplitude 0.5 m. At time t = 0
s the displacement of the object is a maximum.

What is the displacement of the object at time t = ?

A. -0.50 m B. 0.50 m C. 0.25 m D. 0 m

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21. An object undergoes simple harmonic motion. Which graph shows the relationship between the
acceleration a and the displacement x from the equilibrium position?

22. A mass M hangs in equilibrium on a spring. M is made to oscillate about the equilibrium
position by pulling it down 10 cm and releasing it. The time for M to travel back to the
equilibrium position for the first time is 0.50 s. Which row, A to D, in the table is correct for
these oscillations?

23. An object is undergoing simple harmonic motion (SHM) about a fixed point P. The magnitude of
its displacement from P is x. Which of the following is correct?

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24. An object undergoes simple harmonic motion . The total energy of the object is proportional to

A. the amplitude of the oscillations. B. the time period of the oscillations.

C. the frequency of the oscillations. D. the mass of the object.

25. A particle undergoing simple harmonic motion (SHM) oscillates with time period T and angular
frequency ω. The time period of the SHM changes to 2T. Which of the following gives the new value
of ω?

A. B. C. 2ω D. 4ω

26. A particle is undergoing simple harmonic motion (SHM) in a horizontal plane. The total
mechanical energy of the system is E. Which of the following correctly gives the kinetic energy of the
particle at the positions of maximum displacement and equilibrium?

27. A particle oscillates with simple harmonic motion with period T.

At time t=0, the particle has its maximum displacement. Which graph shows the variation with time t of
the kinetic energy Ek of the particle?

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28. The equation for the velocity of an object performing simple harmonic motion is .
Which of the following is a correct alternative form of the equation?

A. B.

C. D.

29. A body moves with simple harmonic motion of amplitude A and frequency. What is the magnitude
of the acceleration when the body is at maximum displacement?
2
A. zero B. 4𝜋 2 𝐴𝑏 2 C. 𝐴𝑏 2 D. 4𝜋 2𝐴
𝑏

30. A particle undergoes simple harmonic motion of period 𝑇. At time 𝑡 = 0 the particle is at its
equilibrium position. What is 𝑡 when the particle is at its greatest distance from the equilibrium
position?
𝑇 𝑇 3𝑇
A. B. C. D. 𝑇
8 2 4

31. A mass of 0.25 kg hangs from a spring of spring constant 4.0 N m−1. What is the natural frequency
of oscillation for this system?

A. 0.50 Hz B. 0.64 Hz C. 1.6 Hz D. 2.0 Hz

32. An object is undergoing simple harmonic motion. For this object, what is the phase angle between
the variation of displacement with time and the variation of acceleration with time?
𝜋 𝜋
A. 0 B. 4 rad C. 2 rad D. 𝜋 rad

33. An object performs simple harmonic motion. When the displacement

𝑥
of the object is 20 the kinetic energy of the object is 𝐸. What is the total
energy of the motion?

3𝐸 4𝐸
A. B. C. 2𝐸 D. 4𝐸
4 3

34. A mass M oscillates with a period 𝑇 when connected to a spring with spring stiffness constant k.
A mass of 2M is connected to 2 identical springs, each with spring stiffness constant k.

What is the period of the system?

𝑇 𝑇 𝑇
A. 𝑇 B. C. D.
√2 2 4

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35. A particle is executing simple harmonic oscillations with total energy 𝐸 and amplitude 𝑥0 .
𝑥0
What is the kinetic energy of the particle when the displacement from the equilibrium position is ?
2

𝐸 𝐸 3𝐸 𝐸√3
A. B. C. D.
4 2 4 2

36. A mass oscillating in simple harmonic motion on the end of a spring has an amplitude 𝑥0 and a total
energy ET. The mass on the spring is doubled and made to oscillate with the same amplitude 𝑥0.

What is the total energy of the oscillating system after the change?

A. ET B. √2ET C. 2ET D. 4ET

37. An object undergoes simple harmonic motion (shm) of amplitude 𝑥0. When the displacement of the
𝑥
object is 30, the speed of the object is 𝑣. What is the speed when the displacement is 𝑥0?

𝑣 √2
A. 0 B. 3 C. 𝑣 D. 3𝑣
3

38. An object at the end of a spring oscillates vertically with simple

harmonic motion. The graph shows the variation with time 𝑡 of the
displacement 𝑥 of the object. What is the velocity of the object?
2𝜋𝐴 𝜋𝑡 2𝜋𝐴 𝜋𝑡
A. − sin ( 𝑇 ) B. sin ( 𝑇 )
𝑇 𝑇

2𝜋𝐴 𝜋𝑡 2𝜋𝐴 𝜋𝑡
C. − cos ( 𝑇 ) D. cos ( 𝑇 )
𝑇 𝑇

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MARKSCHEME

1. C 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. C 6. C

7. C 8. A 9. A 10. C 11. A 12. B

13. A 14. C 15. A 16. D 17. D 18. A

19. A 20. D 21. A 22. B 23. A 24. D

25. B 26. B 27. C 28. A 29. C 30. C

31. B 32. D 33. B 34. A 35. C 36. A

37. A 38. D

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