Chapter-15 Oscillations

The study and control of oscillations are two of the primary goals of both physics and engineering.

The large ball seen in this photograph hangs on the 92nd floor of one of the world’s tallest buildings.

How can the ball counter the building’s sway?

15.2 Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)In this chapter we discuss a basic type of oscillation called simple harmonic motion.

One important property of oscillatory motion is its frequency (f), or number of oscillations that are completed each second. Related to the frequency is the period (T), of the motion, which is the time for one complete oscillation (or cycle);

Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration of SHM

In SHM, the acceleration is proportional to the displacement but opposite in sign, and the two quantities are related by the square of the angular frequency.

15.3 The Force Law for Simple Harmonic Motion

Simple harmonic motion is the motion executed by a particle subject to a force that is proportional to the displacement of the particle but opposite in sign.

15.4 Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion

The Simple PendulumA simple pendulum consists of a particle of mass m (called the bob of the pendulum) suspended from one end of an unstretchable, massless string of length L that is fixed at the other end. The bob is free to swing back and forth in the plane of the page, to the left and right of a vertical line through the pendulum’s pivot point.