Does Increasing Mass Affect the Natural Frequency of Vibration?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between mass and the natural frequency of vibration in oscillating systems. Participants explore theoretical and practical implications of increasing mass on natural frequency, considering both mathematical formulations and intuitive understandings.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant queries whether increasing mass from 2 kg to 5 kg would require more force to vibrate the object and suggests this might increase the natural frequency.
  • Another participant references the formula for natural frequency, indicating that frequency decreases when mass increases, as shown by the relationship $$\omega^2 = \frac{k}{m}$$.
  • A different participant asks for a practical explanation of how increasing mass affects the ability to vibrate the body and suggests that it might shift the natural frequency upwards.
  • One participant asserts that inertia plays a significant role in this context, implying that increased mass makes it harder to initiate vibration.
  • Another participant reiterates the formula for natural frequency and emphasizes the inverse relationship between mass and frequency, stating that increasing mass decreases natural frequency.
  • A later reply discusses the implications of the second law of Newton in the context of spring-mass systems, explaining how forces act on different masses at maximum displacement from equilibrium.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on how increasing mass affects natural frequency, with some arguing that it decreases frequency while others suggest it could increase frequency under certain conditions. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference mathematical relationships and practical scenarios, but there are unresolved assumptions regarding the definitions of stiffness and the conditions under which these relationships hold true.

Deepesh
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TL;DR
This is regarding Stiffness and mass included in Vibrations subject and natural frequency of an object
My query here is,
Suppose there is a 2 kg mass
To oscillate it/vibrate it, it will take some force and it will have some natural frequency
Now I increase the mass to 5 kg
so to vibrate it, won't it take more force and so at the end, won't the natural frequency of the object increase? as its more heavy and requires more force to vibrate it?

Thanks in advance
 
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Hello Deepesh, :welcome: !

Deepesh said:
Summary:: This is regarding Stiffness and mass included in Vibrations subject and natural frequency of an object

My query here is,
Suppose there is a 2 kg mass
To oscillate it/vibrate it, it will take some force and it will have some natural frequency
Now I increase the mass to 5 kg
so to vibrate it, won't it take more force and so at the end, won't the natural frequency of the object increase? as its more heavy and requires more force to vibrate it?

Thanks in advance

Vibrations occur when there is an equilibrium situation and some restoring force that works towards this equilibrium. The simplest way to describe this in physics (mathematics) is $$m\ddot x + kx = 0$$with as solutions ##x = A\sin(\omega t + \phi)##. Substitution shows ##\omega^2 = \displaystyle {k\over m}##. In other words: frequency decreases when only ##m## increases.

And it increases when only ##k## (related to your stiffness) increases.
 
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If we can keep aside formulae for a second?
If you can explain it to me like what happens there practically?
If mass is increasing, isn't making difficult for the force to move/vibrate that body and thus shifting the natural frequency up?
 
Correct. Inertia wins.
 
Now if we come back to simple formula for natural frequency i.e omega= underoot (k/m)

If we increase mass here, the N.F would increase.
Inverse proportion

How does this relate to practically that we just discussed?

Thanks
 
I don't understand the question :confused:
 
Deepesh said:
Now if we come back to simple formula for natural frequency i.e omega= underoot (k/m)

If we increase mass here, the N.F would increase.
Inverse proportion

How does this relate to practically that we just discussed?

Thanks
If you replace mass2 with mass2 in that equation, being mass2 > mass1, the value of the natural frequency (1/seconds) decreases and the value of the period increases (if keeping amplitude and phase the same).
Period = 2 pi / natural frequency

It is only the Second law of Newton.
Taking a spring-mass harmonic vibration for example:
Let's stop when the both masses (small and big) are located at maximum displacement from the equilibrium position.
Both are being pulled towards that equilibrium position by forces of same magnitude, as both masses are attached to similar springs (k) suffering same deformation (x).
Basically, each mass is "loaded" at maximum acceleration and minimum speed.

Now, what happens when we release both masses at the same time?

Spring1 force = spring 2 force = mass1 * acceleration 1 = mass2 * acceleration 2
 
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