Which of the following examples represent (nearly) simple harmonic motion and which represent periodic but not simple harmonic motion?
(a) the rotation of earth about its axis.
(b) motion of an oscillating mercury column in a U-tube.
(c) motion of a ball bearing inside a smooth curved bowl, when released from a point slightly above the lower most point.
(d) general vibrations of a polyatomic molecule about its equilibrium position.
(b) and (c) are SHMs
(a) and (d) are periodic, but not SHMs
(a) During its rotation about its axis, earth comes to the same position again and again in equal intervals of time. Hence, it is a periodic motion. However, this motion is not simple harmonic. This is because earth does not have a to and fro motion about its axis.
(b) An oscillating mercury column in a U-tube is simple harmonic. This is because the mercury moves to and fro on the same path, about the fixed position, with a certain period of time.
(c) The ball moves to and fro about the lowermost point of the bowl when released. Also, the ball comes back to its initial position in the same period of time, again and again. Hence, its motion is periodic as well as simple harmonic.
(d) A polyatomic molecule has many natural frequencies of oscillation. Its vibration is the superposition of individual simple harmonic motions of a number of different molecules. Hence, it is not simple harmonic, but periodic.
A spring balance has a scale that reads from 0 to 50 kg. The length of the scale is 20 cm. A body suspended from this balance, when displaced and released, oscillates with a period of 0.6 s. What is the weight of the body?
Which of the following functions of time represent (a) simple harmonic, (b) periodic but not simple harmonic, and (c) non-periodic motion? Give period for each case of periodic motion (ω is any positive constant):
(a) sin ωt - cos wt
(b) sin3 ωt
(c) 3 cos (π/4 - 2ωt)
(d) cos ωt + cos 3ωt + cos 5ωt
(e) exp (-ω2t2)
A simple pendulum of length l and having a bob of mass M is suspended in a car. The car is moving on a circular track of radius R with a uniform speed v. If the pendulum makes small oscillations in a radial direction about its equilibrium position, what will be its time period?
A circular disc of mass 10 kg is suspended by a wire attached to its centre. The wire is twisted by rotating the disc and released. The period of torsional oscillations is found to be 1.5 s. The radius of the disc is 15 cm. Determine the torsional spring constant of the wire.
(Torsional spring constant α is defined by the relation J = -α ø, where J is the restoring couple and ø¸ the angle of twist).
Which of the following relationships between the acceleration a and the displacement x of a particle involve simple harmonic motion?
(a) a = 0.7x
(b) a = -200x2
(c) a = -10x
(d) a = 100x3
Figure 14.27 depicts four x-t plots for linear motion of a particle. Which of the plots represent periodic motion? What is the period of motion (in case of periodic motion)?
A spring having with a spring constant 1200 N m-1 is mounted on a horizontal table as shown in Fig. A mass of 3 kg is attached to the free end of the spring. The mass is then pulled sideways to a distance of 2.0 cm and released.
Determine (i) the frequency of oscillations, (ii) maximum acceleration of the mass, and (iii) the maximum speed of the mass.
A particle is in linear simple harmonic motion between two points, A and B, 10 cm apart. Take the direction from A to B as the positive direction and give the signs of velocity, acceleration and force on the particle when it is
(a) at the end A,
(b) at the end B,
(c) at the mid-point of AB going towards A,
(d) at 2 cm away from B going towards A,
(e) at 3 cm away from A going towards B, and
(f) at 4 cm away from B going towards A.
Figures 14.29 correspond to two circular motions. The radius of the circle, the period of revolution, the initial position, and the sense of revolution (i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise) are indicated on each figure.
Obtain the corresponding simple harmonic motions of the x-projection of the radius vector of the revolving particle P, in each case.
Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?
The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:
(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.
(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,
(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,
(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,
(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.
A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 104 J/g?
Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.
A person trying to lose weight (dieter) lifts a 10 kg mass, one thousand times, to a height of 0.5 m each time. Assume that the potential energy lost each time she lowers the mass is dissipated. (a) How much work does she do against the gravitational force? (b) Fat supplies 3.8 x 107 J of energy per kilogram which is converted to mechanical energy with a 20% efficiency rate. How much fat will the dieter use up?
Two trains A and B of length 400 m each are moving on two parallel tracks with a uniform speed of 72 km h–1 in the same direction, with A ahead of B. The driver of B decides to overtake A and accelerates by 1 m/s2. If after 50 s, the guard of B just brushes past the driver of A, what was the original distance between them?
An aircraft is flying at a height of 3400 m above the ground. If the angle subtended at a ground observation point by the aircraft positions 10.0 s apart is 30°, what is the speed of the aircraft?
Estimate the average mass density of a sodium atom assuming its size to be about 2.5 Å. (Use the known values of Avogadro’s number and the atomic mass of sodium). Compare it with the density of sodium in its crystalline phase : 970 kg m–3. Are the two densities of the same order of magnitude ? If so, why ?
The speed-time graph of a particle moving along a fixed direction is shown in Fig. 3.28. Obtain the distance traversed by the particle between (a) t = 0 s to 10 s, (b) t = 2 s to 6 s.
(Fig. 3.28)
What is the average speed of the particle over the intervals in (a) and (b)?
A SONAR system fixed in a submarine operates at a frequency 40.0 kHz. An enemy submarine moves towards the SONAR with a speed of 360 km h-1. What is the frequency of sound reflected by the submarine? Take the speed of sound in water to be 1450 m s-1.
Read each statement below carefully and state, with reasons, if it is true or false:
(a) The net acceleration of a particle in circular motion is always along the radius of the circle towards the centre
(b) The velocity vector of a particle at a point is always along the tangent to the path of the particle at that point
(c) The acceleration vector of a particle in uniform circular motion averaged over one cycle is a null vector
Explain why
(a) To keep a piece of paper horizontal, you should blow over, not under, it
(b) When we try to close a water tap with our fingers, fast jets of water gush through the openings between our fingers
(c) The size of the needle of a syringe controls flow rate better than the thumb pressure exerted by a doctor while administering an injection
(d) A fluid flowing out of a small hole in a vessel results in a backward thrust on the vessel
(e) A spinning cricket ball in air does not follow a parabolic trajectory
For any arbitrary motion in space, which of the following relations are true :
(a) vaverage = (1/2) (v (t1) + v (t2))
(b) vaverage = [r(t2) - r(t1) ] / (t2 – t1)
(c) v(t) = v (0) + a t
(d) r(t) = r (0) + v (0) t + (1/2) a t2
(e) aaverage =[ v (t2) - v (t1 )] /( t2 – t1)
(The ‘average’ stands for average of the quantity over the time interval t1 to t2)
The principle of ‘parallax’ in section 2.3.1 is used in the determination of distances of very distant stars. The baseline AB is the line joining the Earth’s two locations six months apart in its orbit around the Sun. That is, the baseline is about the diameter of the Earth’s orbit ≈ 3 × 1011m. However, even the nearest stars are so distant that with such a long baseline, they show parallax only of the order of 1” (second) of arc or so. A parsec is a convenient unit of length on the astronomical scale. It is the distance of an object that will show a parallax of 1” (second) of arc from opposite ends of a baseline equal to the distance from the Earth to the Sun. How much is a parsec in terms of metres ?