A uniform rod of length L oscillates as a pendulum about a pivot that is a distance x from the center. For what value of x, in terms of L, is the oscillation period a minimum?

The greenhouse-gas carbon dioxide molecule CO₂ strongly absorbs infrared radiation when its vibrational normal modes are excited by light at the normal-mode frequencies. CO₂ is a linear triatomic molecule, as shown in FIGURE CP15.82, with oxygen atoms of mass mo bonded to a central carbon atom of mass m_c. You know from chemistry that the atomic masses of carbon and oxygen are, respectively, 12 and 16. Assume that the bond is an ideal spring with spring constant k. There are two normal modes of this system for which oscillations take place along the axis. (You can ignore additional bending modes.) In this problem, you will find the normal modes and then use experimental data to determine the bond spring constant. The symmetric stretch frequency is known to be 4.00 X 10¹³ Hz. What is the spring constant of the C - O bond? Use 1 u = 1 atomic mass unit = 1.66 X 10⁻²⁷ kg to find the atomic masses in SI units. Interestingly, the spring constant is similar to that of springs you might use in the lab.

A spring is standing upright on a table with its bottom end fastened to the table. A block is dropped from a height 3.0 cm above the top of the spring. The block sticks to the top end of the spring and then oscillates with an amplitude of 10 cm. What is the oscillation frequency?

The greenhouse-gas carbon dioxide molecule CO₂ strongly absorbs infrared radiation when its vibrational normal modes are excited by light at the normal-mode frequencies. CO₂ is a linear triatomic molecule, as shown in FIGURE CP15.82, with oxygen atoms of mass mo bonded to a central carbon atom of mass m_c. You know from chemistry that the atomic masses of carbon and oxygen are, respectively, 12 and 16. Assume that the bond is an ideal spring with spring constant k. There are two normal modes of this system for which oscillations take place along the axis. (You can ignore additional bending modes.) In this problem, you will find the normal modes and then use experimental data to determine the bond spring constant. Use the frequency of the symmetric stretch to predict the frequency of the antisymmetric stretch. The measured frequency is 7.05 × 10¹³ Hz so your prediction is close but not perfect. The reason is that the bonds are not ideal springs but have a slight amount of anharmonicity. Nonetheless, you’ve learned a great deal about the CO₂ molecule from a simple model of oscillating masses.

A 200 g oscillator in a vacuum chamber has a frequency of 2.0 Hz. When air is admitted, the oscillation decreases to 60% of its initial amplitude in 50 s. How many oscillations will have been completed when the amplitude is 30% of its initial value?

Suppose a large spherical object, such as a planet, with radius R and mass M has a narrow tunnel passing diametrically through it. A particle of mass m is inside the tunnel at a distance 𝓍 ≤ R from the center. It can be shown that the net gravitational force on the particle is due entirely to the sphere of mass with radius 𝓇 ≤ 𝓍 there is no net gravitational force from the mass in the spherical shell with 𝓇 > 𝓍. a. Find an expression for the gravitational force on the particle, assuming the object has uniform density. Your expression will be in terms of x, R, m, M, and any necessary constants.

A block on a frictionless table is connected as shown in FIGURE P15.75 to two springs having spring constants k₁ and k₂. Find an expression for the block’s oscillation frequency f in terms of the frequencies f₁ and f₂ at which it would oscillate if attached to spring 1 or spring 2 alone.