AP Physics I Quiz
Simple Harmonic Motion
5 Questions
1. There are six parts to this question. 1a through 1e and 1g are free-response questions. 1f
is a multiple-choice question.
A student performs an experiment but attaching a 500g mass onto a vertical spring in simple
harmonic motion. Using a motion sensor, the student was able to make a table as shown:
Position (cm) Time (s)
42.5 0.0
49.5 0.2
58.6 0.4
62.1 0.6
58.5 0.8
49.6 1.0
42.5 1.2
33.4 1.4
26.5 1.6
22.9 1.8
26.5 2.0
1a. Determine the period. State your answer with the correct units. (2)
1b. Determine the spring constant. State your answer with the correct units. (2)
1c. Determine the angular velocity. State your answer with the correct units. (2)
1d. Determine the frequency. State your answer with the correct units. (2)
1e. Determine the magnitude of the amplitude of this experiment. State your answer with (2)
the correct units.
1f. If the student repeated the experiment on the moon, would the period increase, (1)
decrease, or remain the same?
a. Increase
b. Decrease
c. Remain the same.
1g. Find the magnitude of the force required to stretch the string from rest position and to (2)
its max displacement. State your answer with the correct units.
2. A physics student wants to make some notes about the lecture on Simple Harmonic
Motion. She draws the following uncompleted table. She asks for your help to complete
it since you are a kind tutor. In the table below, create a check/tick mark if the following
conditions hold true for x = -A, x = 0, and x = A. (Up is positive ; down is negative) (30)
vmax vmin +amax -amax amin +Fmax -Fmax Fmin Umax KEmax
X = -A
X=0
X=A
3. A simple pendulum is constructed by attaching a mass m to a thin rod of length, l. The
pendulum is pulled back to some angle ∅ >30 ° from the vertical and released. Which of
the following technique(s) could be used to change the frequency f of this pendulum?
i. Changing the mass m on the end of the pendulum. (1)
ii. Changing the length l of the pendulum.
iii. Changing the angle ∅ from which the pendulum is released.
iv. Performing this experiment on the moon.
a. i only
b. ii only
c. iii only
d. iv only
e. ii and iii
f. i, ii, and iii
g. ii, iii, and iv
h. i, ii, iii, and iv
4. There are two parts to this question. 4a is a graph question. 4b is a free-response
question.
A cart of mass m is connected to a spring of spring constant k and displaced to position x =
+A. The cart is released and oscillates about the position x = 0. At t = 0, the cart passes
through the origin having rightward velocity. For the 15 seconds after this time, the students
use motion-sensing equipment to measure the cart’s velocity (where right is positive). The
graph below shows this velocity as a function of time:
This graph is not graded. All sketches go here.
4a. During another trial, the cart is displaced to position +A/2 and released. On the graph
below, sketch a new curve for what the velocity and time graph in this new trial would look (2)
like. If you want a sketch, you can do it in the above graph.
This graph is graded. Final answer goes here.
4b. Justify the shape of your new graph compared to the original. (Calculation works) (1)
5. A mass, attached to a spring, is displaced from the equilibrium position by 6.2cm and
then released. The mass freely oscillates back and forth with a period of T. The position
as a function of time for the mass is given by the equation x(t) = (6.2 cm) * cos(4.4t).
Determine the period of motion for this simple harmonic oscillator. (1)
a. 0.71 s
b. 1.43 s
c. 71.0 s
d. 0.23 s
e. 4.40 s
