Students can explore how varying frequency and amplitude of the vertical oscillation of a platform could cause an object resting on it to temporarily leave the platform (i.e. when normal contact force is zero).
Category: 08 Oscillations
Velocity-Displacement Graph of a Simple Harmonic Oscillator - Animation
This animation is made using Geogebra. It shows the instantaneous velocity and displacement vectors of a particle undergoing simple harmonic motion while tracing its position on the velocity-displacement graph. It is meant to help student understand why the graph is an ellipse.
Phase Difference Simulation
I created this simulation for use later this semester with my IP4 classes, to illustrate the concept of phase difference between two oscillating particles.
LEGO Pendulum Clock to Demonstrate Oscillation Concepts
This is the Pendulum Clock from the LEGO Education Simple and Powered Machines Set. It can be used to demonstrate the variation of period with length of pendulum and is a very good visual representation of the escapement mechanism. There are many other models that one can build using this set, including a weighing scale, elastic
Continue reading LEGO Pendulum Clock to Demonstrate Oscillation Concepts
Tacoma Narrows Bridge
This is a video that we usually will show during a lecture on the topic of Resonance, under the unit "Oscillations". It was taken in 1940 at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington, USA. One of the main reasons (not the only reason - the other being aeroelastic flutter) for its collapse is the effect
Tuning a Guitar using Resonance
There are many ways to tune a guitar. Many musicians would have tuned a string instrument using a tuning fork at some point. However, the conventional method of tuning with a tuning fork is by listening to beats while adjusting the tension of the string. The tuning fork is of a known frequency which corresponds
Resonating Pendulums
The purpose of this demonstration is to teach the conditions and effects of resonance. Our setup includes three sinkers hanging from a rod. I give credit to my colleague Alan Varella for showing me this demonstration when I first started teaching. What I do with my class is that I would jokingly announce that I