2015: Problem 25

Topic: Oscillatory Motion
Concepts: Effective spring constant, Mass-spring system


Solution:

When the two masses oscillate in phase, they always move together so we can equivalently replace them with a single particle of mass 2m2m. The two springs on the sides are connected in parallel so we can replace them with a single spring with effective constant ke=k+k=2kk_e=k+k=2k. Now we have a standard mass-spring system which has angular frequency

ω1=2k2m=km\omega_1=\sqrt{\frac{2k}{2m}}=\sqrt{\frac{k}{m}}

When the two masses oscillate completely out of phase, they always move opposite each other so the midpoint of the center spring is always at rest. Thus, we can attach the midpoint to a wall and just consider one of the masses (the other one is the mirror image). Cutting a spring in half doubles its constant so the middle spring now has k=2kk’=2k. The two springs are connected in parallel so we can replace them with a single spring with effective constant ke=k+2k=3kk_e=k+2k=3k. Now we have a standard mass-spring system which has angular frequency

ω2=3km=3ω1\omega_2=\sqrt{\frac{3k}{m}}=\sqrt{3}\omega_1

Thus,

ω2ω1=3\frac{\omega_2}{\omega_1}=\sqrt{3}

so the answer is A.

Response

  1. YUFAN WU Avatar
    YUFAN WU

    This solution is so much clearer than the F=ma official solution! Thank you so much! The solutions and analysis on your website has saved me a ton of time!

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