Relationship betwen SHM frequency and harmonic oscillator freq.

songbird7 · Feb 21, 2012

Homework Statement

Relate the frequency of a harmonic oscillator (spring) to that of a simple harmonic oscillator (pendulum) Show all derivations.

pendulum:
f=(1/(2∏))√(g/L)

Not exactly sure how to go about this...is it saying that a spring isn't a SHM...because I thought it was. Please help me understand!

tiny-tim · Feb 21, 2012

welcome to pf!

hi songbird7! welcome to pf!

i think they're getting at the distinction mentioned in wikipedia …

If F is the only force acting on the system, the system is called a simple harmonic oscillator …

since a spring can be damped, its motion wouldn't be simple harmonic