Thanks Chester, I completely understand now. The initial tension that you assigned 10k is what I was referring to as Kx0, if that helps you understand what I did in the last picture.
In any event, I now realize my mistake in tackling the 2 mass system - I had incorrectly halved the initial...
To make my issue clearer I've take the example of a one mass, two spring system. (Attached image).
The first method in the image shows where my normal assumptions break down. The second method gets me the answer that I expect for this system, but when I apply this same approach of including x0...
Thanks for your reply, and for the welcome!
I had a feeling that my use of terminology wouldn't be specific enough! It's easy to be too ambiguous, or use the wrong terms by accident! By motion I meant the motion of the mass during oscillation, which in turn would displace the spring.
My...
Thanks for your reply! This was my intuitive sense of what would happen, but I managed to get confused anyway. Can you just confirm a little further...
If each spring was initially stretched by 10 mm (Apologies to anyone not using metric) there would be spring forces of +k(10) and -k(10) acting...
I'm making a vibration rig that represents a classic 2 mass, 3 spring system (See attached Image).
(To clarify the image - there will be no forcing frequency. m=m1=m2 and k=k1=k2=k3)
I'm using extension springs in the vibration rig. I plan to displace them in extension at an equilibrium point...