Mathematics I / Oscillations and Periodic Motion
Practice question · Sort into groups

An ideal spring oscillator has its amplitude doubled, with the same mass and spring. Sort each quantity by whether it changes.

Groups: Changes when the amplitude is doubled · Unchanged when the amplitude is doubled

Hints
  1. Look at what omega depends on: only the stiffness and the mass appear in it.
  2. Everything built from omega alone is fixed; everything built from A moves with A.
Show the answer

Changes when the amplitude is doubled: The maximum displacement, The maximum speed, The total energy stored

Unchanged when the amplitude is doubled: The period, The frequency, The angular frequency omega

Why

Since ω=k/m\omega = \sqrt{k/m} contains no A, the period, frequency and angular frequency are all untouched, that is the defining and counterintuitive feature of simple harmonic motion. The displacement, the maximum speed (which is AωA\omega) and the stored energy (which goes as A2A^{2}) all depend on the amplitude.

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