Student Exploration: Simple Harmonic Motion
Vocabulary: controlled experiment, harmonic motion, oscillation, pendulum, period, spring,
spring constant
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A bungee jumper launches herself off a bridge. How would you describe her motion...
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. A bungee jumper launches herself off a bridge. How would you describe her motion?
When jumper launches herself, she falls quickly till the bungee stretches to its full length and
rebounds continuously until it comes to a stop.
2. A child goes to the playground and gets on a swing. How would you describe his motion?
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When the child is pushed on the swing the child continues in a constant back and forth
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motion (oscillation), which eventually comes to a stop.
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3. What do the motions of the bungee jumper and swinger have in common?
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They both have this similar oscillating motion.
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Gizmo Warm-up
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Harmonic motion is repeating back-and-forth or up-
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and-down movement. The Simple Harmonic Motion
Gizmo™ allows you compare the harmonic motions of
a spring and a pendulum.
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To begin, open the TOOLS tab on the bottom right and
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drag one arrow to the bottom of the spring so that the
weight just touches the tip of the arrow, as shown. Drag
a second arrow so that the pendulum just touches the
tip of the arrow when it swings to the left.
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1. When the spring touches the arrow, click the green button on the stopwatch. Count the
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movements, or oscillations. Click the green button again after the tenth oscillation.
A. What is the time for 10 oscillations of the spring? ___06.20secs__________
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B. Divide this time by 10 to find the period of the spring: __0.62_____________
2. Click the red button to reset the stopwatch. Use the same procedure on the pendulum.
What is the period of the pendulum? ____2.825________________
This study source was downloaded by 100000827039679 from CourseHero.com on 08-06-2021 04:09:26 GMT -05:00
, Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Period of a spring Click the red button to reset the stopwatch.
Introduction: The spring constant is a measure of the stiffness of a spring. The greater the
spring constant, the harder it is to stretch or compress the spring. The Simple Harmonic Motion
Gizmo allows you to manipulate the mass on the end of the spring (m), the spring constant (k),
and the gravitational acceleration (g).
Question: Which factors affect the period of a spring?
1. Predict: Which factors do you think will increase or decrease the period of a spring? Which
do you think will have no effect on the period of a spring?
I think that the mass added on the spring and the spring constant would have an effect on
the period of a spring. The gravitational acceleration would not affect the period the spring.
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2. Gather data: In a controlled experiment, only one factor changes at a time. Controlled
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experiments are a fair way to compare the effects of each variable on a system.
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For each of the combinations given in the table below, measure the time for 10 oscillations
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of the spring and calculate the period. If necessary, reduce the Sim. speed to improve your
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m (kg) k (N/m) g (m/s2) Time for 10 oscillations (s) Period (s)
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0.5 kg 100 N/m 9.8 m/s2 04.56 0.456
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2.0 kg 100 N/m 9.8 m/s 08.89 0.889
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m (kg) k (N/m) g (m/s2) Time for 10 oscillations (s) Period (s)
1.0 kg 50 N/m 9.8 m/s2 08.84 0.884
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1.0 kg 200 N/m 9.8 m/s2 04.48 0.448
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m (kg) k (N/m) g (m/s2) Time for 10 oscillations (s) Period (s)
1.0 kg 100 N/m 5.0 m/s2 06.26 0.626
1.0 kg 100 N/m 20.0 m/s2 06.22 0.622
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3. Analyze: Examine the results of each experiment.
A. Which factors affected the period of the spring? _mass and spring constant _____
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B. Which factor had no effect on the period? __gravity _______
C. What is the effect of quadrupling the mass? _the period increases doubly____
D. What is the effect of quadrupling the spring constant? _the period decreases by the
division of 2. E.g. 4/2 =2
This study source was downloaded by 100000827039679 from CourseHero.com on 08-06-2021 04:09:26 GMT -05:00
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