A freely oscillating object oscillates with constant amplitude as there are no frictional forces acting upon it. The only force acting on it is the restoring force. Consider the transfers of energy of a simple pendulum. At the highest point, the kinetic energy is zero as the velocity is zero and the gravitational potential energy is a maximum. At the lowest point (equilibrium position) all the gravitational potential energy has been transferred to kinetic energy. As it rises, the kinetic energy is transferred to gravitational potential energy again.Using EP = ½kA2 where k is the spring constant and the amplitude A has been substituted for x, the kinetic energy is given byEk=Etotal - EP = ½mv2 = ½k(A2 - x2)
Energy and Simple Harmonic Motion
Read the text
Read the text and highlight anything you think is important. When you go on, the text is hidden and you answer from memory.
Specification: OCR Physics A (H556), A-level, 5.3.2 Energy of a simple harmonic oscillator. Topic: Simple Harmonic Motion.
Key terms in this lesson
- electric field
- A region of space in which a charged object experiences a force due to the presence of another charge.
More in Simple Harmonic Motion
- Oscillations
- Phase Difference
- Simple Harmonic Motion
- Simple Harmonic Motion and Circular Motion
- Mass-Spring System
- A Simple Pendulum
- Damping
- Resonance
All 9 lessons in Simple Harmonic Motion · All OCR A-level Physics topics