DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

SRM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

18PYB201T - Waves and Optics

Module-I, Lecture-1

Simple Harmonic Motion

1
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Harmonic Motion:
Any motion which repeats itself after regular interval is called
periodic or harmonic motion

Example: Motion of planets around the sun

Oscillatory Motion:
If in case of periodic motion, the body moves back and forth
repeatedly about a fixed position (called equilibrium or mean
position), the motion is said to be oscillatory motion or vibratory
motion

Example: Motion of piston in an engine, Motion of needle of

sewing machine.
2
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion

The study of oscillations is essential for the understanding of various

systems, be it mechanical, acoustical, electrical or atomic.

Simple Harmonic Motion:

If the force acting on the oscillating body is always in the direction
opposite to the displacement of the body from the equilibrium or the
mean position and its magnitude is proportional to the magnitude of
displacement, the body is said to be executing Simple Harmonic
Motion

Thus, simple harmonic motion or SHM is actually a special case of

oscillatory or vibratory motion.

3
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Some examples of simple harmonic motion include
⁕ motion of a simple pendulum
⁕ a vibrating tuning fork
⁕ a spring-mass system

Figure 1: Examples of SHM: (i) A simple pendulum; (ii) a vibrating tuning fork; (iii) an
oscillating spring-mass system.
4
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Consider spring-mass system shown in Fig.2 (a) is in the position of
static equilibrium: the spring is relaxed (neither stretched nor
compressed) and there is no force acting on the body.
Figure 2:
(a) Normal,
(b) stretched,
(c) compressed
configurations
of a horizontal
spring-mass
system.

When the body is pulled to the right through a small distance x as

shown in Fig.2 (b), the spring starts behaving like an elastic system
under stress. Hooke’s Law states that the restoring force is
proportional to the displacement of the spring. 5
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
The restoring force exerted by the spring on the body is directed to
the left [see Fig. 2 (c)] and is given by the following relation:

Since, the restoring force, F is proportional to the displacement and

is opposite in sign to the displacement, the resulting motion is
Simple Harmonic Motion. Here k is called the spring constant or
stiffness constant.

Basic Characteristics of SHM

 The magnitude of the initial displacement, which is also the

maximum displacement, is called the Amplitude (A) of
oscillations
6
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Basic Characteristics of SHM

 The Time taken for one complete cycle of oscillation is known as

Time period (T)

 Frequency is the number of complete oscillations executed per

second and is the inverse of the time period, i.e.

 Then Angular Frequency ω is denoted by

7
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Differential Equation of SHM:
Eqn. 1 in the differential form by using Newton’s second law of
motion (force experienced by a body of mass m can be expressed as
a function of acceleration),

The above equation is the differential equation of SHM. Here k is the

force constant. The dimension of k/m, is square of reciprocal of time.
The quantity k/m is replaced by ω2, then eqn. 6 becomes

Here ω is the angular frequency.

8
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Solution of the Differential Equation of SHM
The second time derivative of displacement can be written as

Multiplying and dividing by dx in the numerator and the denominator

Since
Eqn. 10 becomes

9
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Solution of the Differential Equation of SHM
Using Eqn.12, in Eqn 7 becomes

On integrating both the sides,

Let the magnitude of the displacement is equal to the amplitude (x = ±

A). The constant C1 can be calculated by applying boundary
conditions in eqn. 16

10
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Sub eqn. 17 in eqn. 16, we get

This relation is the expression for velocity of a particle executing SHM.

Displacement (x):
From eqn. 19

On integrating both the sides, we get corresponding to the (+) sign

11
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
And, corresponding to the (-) sign

where δ1 and δ2 are dimensionless constants.

Therefore, we can see that the SHM is defined by a sinusoidal curve

Depending on the value of constant δ and ωt the displacement from

the equilibrium position and velocity of the SHM at any instant can be
determined.
Angular Frequency (ω):
We know that the displacement should return to its initial value after
one time period of the motion.
12
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion

We also know from trigonometry that the sine or cosine function

repeats itself when its argument has increased by 2π rad. Thus,

Also from eqn. 7

where ω is the angular frequency of the system.

13
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Total Energy (E):
In Oscillating system, the energy of the oscillation alternates between
potential and kinetic forms.
The potential energy being minimum at the mean position and
maximum at the extremities. The kinetic energy is maximum at the
mean position and minimum at the extremities.
The sum of potential energy (U) and kinetic energy (K), which is the
total mechanical energy (E) of the oscillator, remains constant.
Potential Energy (U):
The potential energy of the spring-mass system depends entirely on
how much the spring is stretched or compressed, i.e. the displacement
x(t) of the mass from its equilibrium position.
14
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
The potential energy dU gained by the system is equal to the work done
against the force in moving it through a distance dx

Replacing F(x) = - mω2x in the above equation,

Thus, the potential energy at a point will be equal to the total work done in
moving the oscillator from the mean position (x=0).
Therefore, integrating the above expression from 0 to x and sub x from Eqn.
24,

15
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1
 Simple Harmonic Motion
Kinetic Energy (K):
The kinetic energy of the spring-mass system is entirely associated with
the moving object. Its value depends on how fast the object is moving,
that is, on velocity v(t).

Sub the value of

This is the expression for the kinetic energy of SHM

Total Energy (E):

16
18PYB201T Module-I Lecture-1