*level
Frequency of SHM
1. A pendulum undergoing simple harmonic motion takes 10 seconds to complete 8 cycles.
(a) Find the angular frequency of the oscillation.
(b) Find the distance between the pivot and the center of mass of the pendulum.
2. The position function of the block in a mass-spring system is given by
𝑥(𝑡) = [2 + sin(0.5𝑡 + 𝜙)] cm, where 𝑡 is in second. Suppose the block is in the equilibrium
position initially (but not at rest), what are (a) the coordinate of the equilibrium position, (b)
phase angle, (c) angular frequency, (d) period of the SHM, (e) maximum speed and (f) the
maximum acceleration?
Energy in SHM
3. A spring-mass system with mass 4 kg and spring constant 1 N/m undergoes a simple harmonic
motion. If the speed of the mass is 1 m/s when passing through the equilibrium position, find
the maximum compression of the spring.
4. A torsion pendulum consists of a uniform solid disk suspended by a wire located at the center of
the disk. The disk is rotated by a small angle and released. Suppose the angular position of a
reference line on the disk is given by 𝜃(𝑡) = (0.05 cos 5𝑡) rad and the moment of inertia of the
disk about its center is 1.5 kg ⋅ m2 , what are (a) the value of torsion constant of the wire and (b)
its maximum kinetic energy?
** level
5. A mass m is attached to a spring with spring constant k. A force F is applied to the mass,
compressing the spring. At t = 0, the force is released. Express the displacement of the mass from
the equilibrium position at time t = t0 in terms of t0, m, k and F.
6. A spring-mass system, with mass 2 kg and spring constant 8 N/m, is performing
simple harmonic motion. At t = 0, the mass is moving at the maximum speed of
0.1 m/s. Find the speed of the mass at t = 4 s.
7. A thin uniform rod swings about the pivot O that passes through one end of the
rod. The rod swings with a period of 𝑇 = 0.4π s and an angular amplitude of
𝜃 = 3o .
(a) What is the length of the rod?
(b) The period of oscillation can be tuned by changing the position of pivot as shown in the
following figure. Find the value of 𝑥 such that the new period is 𝑇′ = 𝑇/2.
8. A block of mass 𝑚 is connected to a massless spring, and the spring is compressed by 𝑥0 m
from the natural length. After releasing the block, the spring returns to it natural length after
𝑇/4 s. However, the connection between the block and spring is broken when the spring is
extended by 𝑥0 /2 m. (a) Find the velocity of the block at that moment, and (b) the energy
loss during the breaking in terms of 𝑥0 , 𝑚 and 𝑇.
*** level
9. A mass m = 4 kg, hanged vertically with a spring of spring constant 1 N/m, is set to undergo a
simple harmonic motion. When the spring is at its natural length, the speed of the mass is
10 m/s. Find the maximum compression of the spring.
10. A small block (with mass 𝑚) slides toward a big block (with mass 𝑀) which is on the end of a
massless spring of constant 𝑘 in SHM with amplitude 𝑥0 . The small block slides with speed
𝑣0 before it is stuck on the large block. What is the amplitude of the SHM after the collision if
the collision happens at the moment of
(a) the large block is at rest?
(b) the spring is unstretched and the large block is moving toward the small block? Express your
answer in terms of 𝑘, 𝑥0 , 𝑚, 𝑀 and 𝑣0 .
(c) Show that if the collision happens at the moment of the large block moving with speed 𝑣1 =
𝑣0 (the same direction of the small block), the final amplitude is maximized.
Appendix - Phase diagram:
The equation of a circle of radius 𝑅 centered at the origin is given by
𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 𝑅2
By the definition of sine and cosine function, we have the coordinates on a point of a circle at
the polar angle 𝜃 be
(𝑥, 𝑦) = (𝑅 cos 𝜃 , 𝑅 sin 𝜃)
(𝑅 cos 𝜃 , 𝑅 sin 𝜃)
𝑅 𝜃
𝑥
Q: If an object is performing a uniform circular motion anti-clockwise on a circle of radius 𝑅
and centered at the origin. At 𝑡 = 0, it is at (1,0) and the angular frequency is 𝜔. Write
the coordinates of the object as a function of time t, 𝜔 and 𝑅.
Q: A speaker produces a sine signal with an amplitude of 0.3 Pa while another speaker produces
another signal with the same frequency and an amplitude of 0.4 Pa. A microphone is used to
detect both signal and the phase difference between the signal is 90°. Find the amplitude of
the signal detected by the microphone.
Hint: Draw the phasor diagram for both signals, sum the two vectors and find the length of the
resultant vector.