The mass shown from above in Figure 5.27 is resting on a | StudySoup

Textbook Solutions for Classical Mechanics

Chapter 5 Problem 5.18

Question

The mass shown from above in Figure 5.27 is resting on a frictionless horizontal table. Each of the two identical springs has force constant k and unstretched length \(l_{\mathrm{o}}\). At equilibrium the mass rests at the origin, and the distances a are not necessarily equal to \(l_{\mathrm{o}}\). (That is, the springs may already be stretched or compressed.) Show that when the mass moves to a position (x, y), with x and y small, the potential energy has the form (5.104) (Problem 5.14) for an anisotropic oscillator. Show that if \(a<l_{0}\) the equilibrium at the origin is unstable and explain why.

Solution

Step 1 of 4

When the mass is at (x, y) let the length of the springs are \(I_{1}\) and \(I_{2}\).

These lengths are shown in the figure below:

                             Nb4 (1).JPG

From the figure the length,

                                            \(\begin{aligned}I_{1} & =\sqrt{(a+x)^{2}+y^{2}} \\ & =a\left(1+\frac{2 x}{a}+\frac{x^{2}+y^{2}}{a^{2}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}} \\ & \approx a\left[1+\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{2 x}{a}+\frac{x^{2}+y^{2}}{a^{2}}\right)-\frac{1}{8}\left(\frac{2 x}{a}\right)^{2}\right] \\ & =a+x+\frac{y^{2}}{2 a}\end{aligned}\)

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full solution

Title Classical Mechanics 0 
Author John R Taylor
ISBN 9781891389221

The mass shown from above in Figure 5.27 is resting on a

Chapter 5 textbook questions

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