Chapter 14: Oscillations
Physlet® Problems



1.  

A  ball on an air track is attached to a compressed  spring  as shown in the animation (position is in meters measured from equilibrium and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the position of the ball as a function of time.  
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

2.  

A  ball on an air track is attached to a compressed  spring  as shown in the animation (position is in meters measured from equilibrium and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the velocity of the ball as a function of time.  
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

3.  

A  ball on an air track is attached to a compressed  spring  as shown in the animation (position is in meters measured from equilibrium and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the acceleration of the ball as a function of time.  
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

4.  

A  ball on an air track is attached to a compressed  spring  as shown in the animations (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Each of the 5 graphs CORRECTLY show a different property of the motion of the ball. Determine whether the green ball undergoes simple harmonic motion and state which graph(s) tell you this.  
Simple harmonic motion: Animation 1
Not simple harmonic motion: Animation 3
Not simple harmonic motion: Animation 5
Not simple harmonic motion: Animation 4

5.  

A  500 gram green ball on an air track is attached to a compressed  spring (at x=0 the spring is unstretched) as shown in the animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Determine the spring constant of the spring  (assume v=0 at the beginning and end of the animation). Start

51 N/m
2.0 N/m
0.51 N/m
0.013 N/m

6.  

A 200 gr mass is vibrating at the end of a spring as shown.  Position is shown in cm and time in seconds.  What is the total mechanical energy of the system? Start
1 mJ.
2 mJ.
0 J since the average position is zero.
Insufficient information.  The spring constant must be specified.

7.  

A 200 gr mass is vibrating at the end of a spring as shown.  Position is shown in cm and time in seconds.  What is the spring constant? Start
0.09 N/m.
3.5 N/m.
17.8 N/m.

8.  

The above animation shows the analogy between circular motion (coin on turntable) and simple harmonic motion (hanging mass on a spring). Given the above animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds) which graph properly denotes position verses time for a horizontal spring synchronized with the turntable?

Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

9.  

The above animation shows the analogy between circular motion (coin on turntable) and simple harmonic motion (hanging mass on a spring). Given the above animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds) what is the maximum speed of the spring?  Start
0.8 m/s
0.94 m/s
1.88 m/s
0.47 m/s

10.  

A  ball on a string oscillates as shown in the animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the position of the ball in the x direction as a function of time.  
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

11.  

A  ball string oscillates as shown in the animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the velocity of the ball in the x direction as a function of time
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

12.  

A  ball on a string oscillates as shown in the animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Determine which graph properly shows the acceleration of the ball in the x direction as a function of time.  
Animation 1
Animation 2
Animation 3
Animation 4

13.  

A pendulum is allowed to oscillate in an accelerating elevator as shown in the animation (position is in meters and time is in seconds). Determine the effective acceleration due to gravity by analyzing the motion. Start

0.1 m/s2
9.8 m/s2
5.5 m/s2
2.3 m/s2

Physlets used by permission of Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College. Physlet Problems ©Prentice Hall, Inc;

Physlet problems 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 and 13 authored by Mario Belloni and Wolfgang Christian

Physlet problems 6 and 7 authored by Wolfgang Christian

Physlet problems 8 and 9 authored by Mario Belloni


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