Objective
Watch a mass oscillate on a spring and connect displacement, velocity and acceleration to the sinusoid that describes them all.
The idea
Pull the mass and let go. The spring pulls it back past equilibrium, overshoots, and oscillates. Heavier mass means slower swings; stiffer spring means quicker ones.
Try this
- 1Change the mass and count the swings per minute.
- 2Change the spring constant and see the frequency jump.
- 3Drag the mass to a larger starting displacement.
- 4Follow the displacement, velocity and acceleration curves.
Watch for
- Acceleration always points back to equilibrium - that is the restoring force.
- Velocity is greatest at the centre, zero at the extremes.
- Period grows with mass and shrinks with spring stiffness.
- Energy shuttles between kinetic and elastic potential.