Oscillations Spring constant Newton's second law

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The discussion centers on solving the second-order differential equation for a damped harmonic oscillator given specific parameters. The mass (m) is 10 kg, and the spring constant (k) is 28 N/m, with two damping coefficients (c) to analyze: 3 N-s/m and 50 N-s/m. The user attempts to use MATLAB's dsolve function but finds the output confusing and potentially incorrect. A suggestion is made to first determine the characteristic equation of the differential equation to clarify the solutions. Understanding the characteristic equation is essential for deriving the correct expressions for displacement and velocity over time.
bfpri
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So i have the equation m*(d2x/dt^2)+c*(dx/dt)+kx=0, where d2x/dt^2 is the second derivative.

So I'm given that m=10 kg, and k=28 N/m. At time t=0 the mass is displaced to x=.18m and then released from rest. I need to derive an expression for the displacement x and the velocity v of the mass as a function of time where
a) c=3 N-s/M
b) c=50 N-s/m

Since I have to do this in matlab, I attempted to solve with dsolve and got
C10/exp((t*(c - (c^2 - 4*k*m)^(1/2)))/(2*m)) - (C10 - 9/50)/exp((t*(c + (c^2 - 4*k*m)^(1/2)))/(2*m))

clearly not right..How do i set it up correctly so i can solve for both x and v?

Thanks
 
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bfpri said:
So i have the equation m*(d2x/dt^2)+c*(dx/dt)+kx=0, where d2x/dt^2 is the second derivative.

So I'm given that m=10 kg, and k=28 N/m. At time t=0 the mass is displaced to x=.18m and then released from rest. I need to derive an expression for the displacement x and the velocity v of the mass as a function of time where
a) c=3 N-s/M
b) c=50 N-s/m

Since I have to do this in matlab, I attempted to solve with dsolve and got
C10/exp((t*(c - (c^2 - 4*k*m)^(1/2)))/(2*m)) - (C10 - 9/50)/exp((t*(c + (c^2 - 4*k*m)^(1/2)))/(2*m))

clearly not right..How do i set it up correctly so i can solve for both x and v?
Actually, that answer is probably right, but it obscures what's going on in the problem.

What's the characteristic equation you get for that differential equation, and what are its solutions? That's a good place to start. (I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that you know how to solve this differential equation. If you don't, we can back up a bit.)
 
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