Simple harmonic motion vs. harmonic motion

Thread starter cdot
Start date Sep 29, 2012
Tags

Harmonic Harmonic motion Motion Simple harmonic motion

AI Thread Summary

Simple harmonic motion is a specific type of periodic motion characterized by a restorative force proportional to displacement, resulting in sinusoidal time evolution. The term "harmonic motion" is often used interchangeably with simple harmonic motion, but it can also refer to more complex forms of periodic motion. While simple harmonic motion is a subset of harmonic motion, the broader category can include other types of oscillatory behavior. Clarification is needed on whether harmonic motion implies only simple harmonic motion or encompasses additional forms. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for studying various physical systems and their behaviors.

Sep 29, 2012

cdot

I know that simple harmonic motion is a type of periodic motion where the restorative force is directly proportional to the displacement so that the time evolution is sinusoidal but is there such a thing as just harmonic motion? 0r is harmonic motion just short for simple harmonic motion?

Physics news on Phys.org

Sep 29, 2012

mathman

Science Advisor

Homework Helper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_motion

You will get a lot of possibilities from the above.

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...

View full post »

Thread 'Free fall of person in a sled to direct horizontal motion by atmospheric resistance'

Let there be a person in a not yet optimally designed sled at h meters in height. Let this sled free fall but user can steer by tilting their body weight in the sled or by optimal sled shape design point it in some horizontal direction where it is wanted to go - in any horizontal direction but once picked fixed. How to calculate horizontal distance d achievable as function of height h. Thus what is f(h) = d. Put another way, imagine a helicopter rises to a height h, but then shuts off all...

View full post »

Thread 'Newton's first law?'

Some physics textbook writer told me that Newton's first law applies only on bodies that feel no interactions at all. He said that if a body is on rest or moves in constant velocity, there is no external force acting on it. But I have heard another form of the law that says the net force acting on a body must be zero. This means there is interactions involved after all. So which one is correct?

View full post »