Simple Harmonic Motion-Finding the distance traveled by the vibrating object?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem in simple harmonic motion, specifically focusing on determining the distance traveled by a vibrating object attached to a spring. The original poster presents a scenario involving a mass hanging from a spring and its subsequent oscillation after being pulled down and released.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to derive the spring constant and formulate the position function for the oscillating mass. They seek confirmation of their approach and clarification on how to calculate the distance traveled. Some participants suggest calculating the number of oscillations and multiplying by the amplitude, while others mention considering the total distance covered during oscillations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants providing various insights and methods to approach the problem. There is no explicit consensus on the best method to calculate the distance traveled, but several productive directions have been suggested, including the use of oscillation periods and amplitude considerations.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the assumption that the spring behaves ideally and that the oscillations occur without friction. The original poster's initial conditions and definitions, such as the reference position and amplitude, are also under discussion.

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Simple Harmonic Motion-Finding the distance traveled by the vibrating object?

Hi, I would really like to know if my solution to the following question is correct, I would really really really appreciate it.

A hanging spring stretches by 35cm when an object of mass 450g is hung on it at rest. In this situation, we define its position as x=0. The object is pulled down an additional 18cm and released from rest to oscillate without friction. What is its position x at a time 84.4s later?
Find the distance traveled by the vibrating object.

Well, by using the equation -ky-mg=0 (at rest) I derived the equation
y=-mg/k. So i replaced y with 35 cm and m with 0.45kg in order to find k.
With k, i set the equation: x(t)= Acos(wt+c) c=phase constant w=angular frequency
and since this started at rest, there is no phase constant, and amplitude is 18cm so i made the equation
x(t)=0.18cos(5.29t)
then i replace the t with 84.4. Is this right?
And how do i go about finding the "distance traveled by the vibrating object"?
Thanks!
 
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Just calculate how many oscillations it goes through and multiply the amplitude with that.
 
That should be the double-amplitude.
 
I think you got it right if we agree that positive x is measured downwards.
For the distance traveled you can try T = 2π/ω for the period of the oscillation. Dividing the time by the period wil therefore give the amount of full oscillations (I get 71) plus a bit (0.0790 of an oscillation which converts to a time of 0.0938s). For every full oscillation the mass covers four times the amplitude. Using your equation and the amount of leftover time you can calculate the additional disance it travelled.
 

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