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Simple Harmonic Motion

Introduction

So far we've learned about the motion of objects during a single "event", like an object being dropped, a ball shot out of a cannon, a box sliding down a ramp, etc. Those objects don't return to where they started, and the motion only happens once.

But how would we describe the motion of a person on a swing, a wave traveling through water, a vibrating guitar string, or the motion of a sound wave?

Simple harmonic motion is when the motion of an object repeats over and over for several cycles or oscillations. This lesson will start with an overview of simple harmonic motion and then dive into the two most common examples: mass-spring systems and pendulums. For each one we'll learn about the frequency, period, amplitude, position, velocity, acceleration and energy of the motion.

Study Guide

Download:Simple Harmonic Motion - Study Guide.pdf
Practice Problems

Download:Simple Harmonic Motion - Practice Problems.pdf
Mass-Spring Systems
Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem 1
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Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem answer 1Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem 2
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Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem answer 2Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem 3
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Mass-spring and pendulum simple harmonic motion practice problem answer 3
AP®-Style Questions

Multiple-Choice Questions

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Example Problems
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