Equation Of Shm
A vibrating reed in a music box follows the displacement law x equals 0.05 sin of the quantity 20 pi t, in SI units. What is the maximum speed attained by the tip of the reed?
Select the correct option:
Solution
π m/s
For a body in SHM written as x=Asin(ωt), the velocity is the time derivative v=Aωcos(ωt), so its maximum magnitude is vmax=Aω, occurring as the body sweeps through the mean position. The velocity leads the displacement by a quarter of a period in phase, reaching its peak exactly when the displacement passes through zero. Reading the given equation, the amplitude is A=0.05 m and the angular frequency is ω=20π rad/s. Multiplying gives vmax=0.05×20π=π m/s. The choice 2π m/s wrongly doubles the result, perhaps by misreading the amplitude as 0.1 m. The choice 0.05π m/s forgets to include the factor of 20 from the angular frequency. The choice 20π m/s uses only ω and ignores the amplitude entirely, which is dimensionally the angular frequency, not a speed in this product. This is the standard NCERT result linking maximum velocity to the product of amplitude and angular frequency. As a sanity check, the maximum speed must be finite and proportional to both how far and how fast the reed swings, and π m/s≈3.14 m/s is physically reasonable for a small rapidly vibrating reed.
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About This Question
- Subject
- physics
- Chapter
- oscillations and waves
- Topic
- equation of shm
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
π m/s
For a body in SHM written as x=Asin(ωt), the velocity is the time derivative v=Aωcos(ωt), so its maximum magnitude is vmax=Aω, occurring as the body sweeps through the mean position. The velocity leads the displacement by a quarter of a period in phase, reaching its peak exactly when the displacement passes through zero. Reading the given equation, the amplitude is A=0.05 m and the angular frequency is ω=20π rad/s. Multiplying gives vmax=0.05×20π=π m/s. The choice 2π m/s wrongly doubles the result, perhaps by misreading the amplitude as 0.1 m. The choice 0.05π m/s forgets to include the factor of 20 from the angular frequency. The choice 20π m/s uses only ω and ignores the amplitude entirely, which is dimensionally the angular frequency, not a speed in this product. This is the standard NCERT result linking maximum velocity to the product of amplitude and angular frequency. As a sanity check, the maximum speed must be finite and proportional to both how far and how fast the reed swings, and π m/s≈3.14 m/s is physically reasonable for a small rapidly vibrating reed.
This medium difficulty physics question is from the chapter oscillations and waves, covering the topic of equation of shm. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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