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G11 Physics: Practical 8 Simple Harmonic Motion (a detailed version)


Many things vibrate or oscillate. A vibrating tuning fork, a child’s playground swing, and the speaker in an earphone are all examples of physical vibrations. There are also electrical vibrations such as radio signals and acoustical vibrations such as the sound you get when blowing across the top of an open bottle.


One simple system that vibrates is a mass hanging from a spring. The force applied by an ideal spring is proportional to how much it is stretched or compressed. Given this force behavior, the up and down motion of the mass is called simple harmonic motion and the position can be modeled with an equation.


Objectives:


1. Measure the position and velocity as a function of time for an oscillating mass and spring system.


2. Determine the amplitude, period, and phase constant of the observed simple harmonic motion.


3. Compare the observed motion of a mass and spring system to a mathematical model of simple harmonic motion.


Materials:


Chromebook, computer, or mobile device

Vernier data-collection interface

Motion Detector

200 g and 300 g masses

ring stand, rod, and right-angle clamp

spring, with a spring constant of approximately 15 N/m

twist ties

wire basket













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