Spring Pendulum and Simple Pendulum
This page discusses two important examples of harmonic oscillation: the spring pendulum and the simple pendulum.
For a spring pendulum, the equation of motion is derived from Newton's second law and Hooke's law:
ma = -Ds m • s'' = -D • s m • ω² = D
From this, we can derive the period of oscillation: T = 2π • √(m/D)
Example: For a horizontal spring pendulum, the period is given by T = 2π • √(m/D), where m is the mass and D is the spring constant.
For a simple pendulum, the equation of motion is derived from the gravitational force component tangent to the arc of motion:
m • g • (s/L) = D • s m • g / L = D
This leads to the period formula for small oscillations: T = 2π • √(L/g)
Highlight: The period of a simple pendulum for small oscillations is independent of the mass and depends only on the length of the pendulum and the acceleration due to gravity.
Both these systems demonstrate harmonic oscillation examples and can be used to solve harmonic oscillation problems involving frequency and amplitude.































