Question about the general solution to Hooke's law

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter dainceptionman_02
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Differential Law
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
3 replies · 3K views
dainceptionman_02
Messages
23
Reaction score
6
ok, so usually one of the first equations in Diff Eq is F = -kx, which is the second order differential equation mx'' = -kx, where they give you the only general solution in the universe as Acoswt + Bsinwt. I was wondering, why can't you just separate the equation and get m∫x''/x = -∫kt'' which should be m(xlnx - x) = -kt^2/2 + C ?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
dainceptionman_02 said:
ok, so usually one of the first equations in Diff Eq is F = -kx, which is the second order differential equation mx'' = -kx, where they give you the only general solution in the universe as Acoswt + Bsinwt. I was wondering, why can't you just separate the equation and get m∫x''/x = -∫kt'' which should be m(xlnx - x) = -kt^2/2 + C ?
That does not solve the differential equation: ##\displaystyle \quad m \ddot{x} = -kx \ \ .##

What do you even mean by m∫x''/x = -∫kt'' ?

Your solution seems to have interpreted this as

##\displaystyle \quad \quad m \int \left( \int \frac 1 x dx \right) dx = -k \int \left( \int dt \right) dt \ \ ,##

which is so very wrong.
 
Last edited:
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Gavran
SammyS said:
That does not solve the differential equation: ##\displaystyle \quad m \ddot{x} = -kx \ \ .##

What do you even mean by m∫x''/x = -∫kt'' ?

Your solution seems to have interpreted this as ##\displaystyle
m \int \left( \int \frac 1 x dx \right) dx = -k \int \left( \int dt \right) dt \ \ ,## which is so very wrong.
I'm getting dizzy... o0)
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: SammyS