next up previous
Next: 15-7. Up: Energy I: Week 1 Previous: Energy I: Week 1

15-2.

We are given the mass $m$, amplitude $A$, and period $T$ of a body undergoing Simple Harmonic Motion. Newton's Second Law tells us that

\begin{displaymath}F=-kx,\end{displaymath}

so that $F$ is maximum when $x$ is maximum, that is, when we have $x=A$. Thus,

\begin{eqnarray*}
F_{max}&=&kA\\
&=&(\omega^2m)A,
\end{eqnarray*}

since we have a spring system. We can obtain $\omega$ from $T$ by

\begin{displaymath}\omega=2\pi f=\frac{2\pi}{T}.\end{displaymath}

This yeilds a value for $k$ of

\begin{displaymath}k=(2\pi f)^2m=118\;\textrm{N/m},\end{displaymath}

and a value of the maximum force of $10\;{\textrm N}$.



Dan Cross 2006-10-18