Question

At the instant a harmonic oscillator has a displacement of -8cm,its acceleration is 2cm/s,what is the period

Answer 1

Explanations & Calculations

• For this, you need to consider the characteristic equation of the harmonic motion.
• The displacement is measured to be negative and the acceleration to be positive.

$\qquad\qquad \begin{aligned} \small a&=\small -\omega^2x\\ &=\small -\Big(\frac{2\pi}{T}\Big)^2.x\\ \small 2\,cms^{-1}&=\small -\Big(\frac{2\pi}{T}\Big).(-8\,cm)\\ \end{aligned}$

• You can now give it a try to subject the period: T.