5.5. Simple Harmonic Motion http://www.ck12.org
5.5 Simple Harmonic Motion
- State the relationships that exist between velocity, acceleration, and displacement in simple harmonic motion.
- Calculate any of the variables in the equationF=kx, when given the other two.
- Understand the relationship between simple harmonic motion and circular motion.
A Foucault pendulum is a pendulum suspended from a long wire, that is sustained in motion over long periods. Due
to the axial rotation of the Earth, the plane of motion of the pendulum shifts at a rate and direction dependent on its
latitude: clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. At the poles the
plane rotates once per day, while at the equator it does not rotate at all.
Simple Harmonic Motion
Many objects vibrate or oscillate –an object on the end of a spring, a tuning fork, the balance wheel of a watch, a
pendulum, the strings of a guitar or a piano. When we speak of a vibration or oscillation, we mean the motion of
an object that repeats itself, back and forth, over the same path. This motion is also known assimple harmonic
motion, often denoted as SHM.
A useful design for examining SHM is an object attached to the end of a spring and laid on a surface. The surface
supports the object so its weight (the force of gravity) doesn’t get involved in the forces. The spring is considered to
be weightless.