In: Physics
Method A: Based on the frequency of a simple harmonic oscillator.
The angular frequency of a mass on a spring is given by
ω=(k/m)1/2ω=(k/m)1/2 where m is the mass and k is the spring constant. The period of a harmonic oscillator is
T=2π/ωT=2π/ω .
If you do a little math, you can get a formula for the spring constant in terms of the mass and the period.
a) Design a procedure to measure the spring constant based on Method A above. Describe your experimental procedure in the text box below.
b) Now, describe the mathematical procedure you will use to calculate the spring constant based on your measurements.
c) Your mathematical procedure above represents a mathematical model of an oscillating mass. What assumptions and idealizations were made in this model? Discuss how these assumptions might affect the outcome of your experiment.