Consider the mass attached to four identical springs, as | StudySoup

Textbook Solutions for Classical Mechanics

Chapter 5 Problem 5.19

Question

Consider the mass attached to four identical springs, as shown in Figure 5.7(b). Each spring has force constant k and unstretched length \(l_{\mathrm{o}}\), and the length of each spring when the mass is at its equilibrium at the origin is a (not necessarily the same as \(l_{\mathrm{o}}\)). When the mass is displaced a small distance to the point (x, y), show that its potential energy has the form \(\frac{1}{2} k^{\prime} r^{2}\) appropriate to an isotropic harmonic oscillator. What is the constant \(k^{\prime}\) in terms of k? Give an expression for the corresponding force.

Solution

Step 1 of 3

The two springs are attached along the x-axis and two along the y-axis.

The potential energy of the two springs along x-axis is,

\(U_{x}=k\left[x^{2}+\left(1-\frac{I_{0}}{a}\right) y^{2}\right]\)

The potential energy of the two springs along y-axis is,

\(U_{y}=k\left[y^{2}+\left(1-\frac{I_{0}}{a}\right) x^{2}\right]\)

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full solution

Title Classical Mechanics 0 
Author John R Taylor
ISBN 9781891389221

Consider the mass attached to four identical springs, as

Chapter 5 textbook questions

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