Wave Phenomena

Physics 15c
Lecture 1
Waves
Harmonic Oscillator

Administravia
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Todays Goals
Introduce the course topic: Waves

What do we study, and why is it worthwhile

Lots of recap today

Simple harmonic oscillators from 15a and 15b
Complex exponential, Taylor expansion
Make sure we all know the basics

Analyze simple harmonic oscillator using complex exp

How do we interpret the complex solutions for a physical system?
Are they general and complete?

Just how common are harmonic oscillators?

Very Physics is filled with them
But why?

What we study in this course

There are waves everywhere
Sea waves
Sound
Earthquakes
Light
Radio waves
Microwave
Human waves

The Great Waves off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai, 1832

Features of waves
Oscillation at each space point

Something (medium) is moving back and force

Air, water, earth, electromagnetic field, people

Propagation of oscillation

Motion of one point causes the next point to move

How does oscillation propagate over distance?
What determines the propagation speed?

We study the general properties of waves focusing on the

common underlying physics

Waves and Modern Physics

Modern (= 20th century) Physics has two pillars:
Relativity was inspired by the absoluteness of the speed of light =
electromagnetic waves
Quantum Mechanics was inspired by the wave-like and particle-like
behaviors of light

Everything is described by wave functions

Relativistic QM is a theory of generalized waves

Solid understanding of waves is essential for studying

advanced physics

Goal of This Course

Understand basic nature of wave phenomena

Intuitive picture of how waves work

How things oscillate. How the oscillation propagates
How do waves transmit energy?
Why are waves so ubiquitous?

Foundation for more advanced subjects

Familiarity with wave equations
and Fourier transformation

Cover a few cool stuff related to waves

Esp. electromagnetic waves

Simple Harmonic Oscillators

current

Already familiar with them,

arent we?

Spring-Mass System
Mass m is placed on a friction-free floor

Spring pulls/pushes m with force

F = kx

(Hookes law)

Newtons law

d 2x
F = ma = m 2
dt
We find the equation of motion:
d 2x
m 2 = kx
dt

We must solve this differential equation

for a given set of initial conditions

F
-x
F
x

Equation of Motion
We know that the solution will look like a sine wave
Try x = x cos t
0

Equation of motion becomes

d
m 2 (x0 cos t) = kx0 cos t
dt
mx0 2 cos t = kx0 cos t

Weve found a solution

k
=
m

Not necessarily the solution

Lets remind ourselves how this solution looks like:

How the position and the velocity change with time
What is the frequency/period of the oscillation
How the energy is (or is not) conserved

Position, Velocity, Acceleration

x = x0 cos t
dx
= x0 sin t
dt
dv
a=
= x0 2 cos t = 2 x
dt

x0

x = x(t)

v=

Oscillation repeats itself at

t = 2
Position and velocity are offphase by 90 degrees
Velocity is ahead
Position and acceleration are
off-phase by 180 degrees

x0
x0

v = v(t)

x0
x0 2

a = a(t)

t
x0 2

Frequency and Period

in cost is the natural angular frequency of this oscillator
How much the phase of the cosine advances per unit time
Unit is [radians/sec]

The period T [sec/cycle] is given by

2
m
2 = T

T=
= 2

k
=
m

The frequency (Greek nu) [cycle/sec] is given by

1
1
= =
=
T 2 2

k
m

a.k.a. Hertz

Energy
Spring stores energy when stretched/compressed:
1 2 1 2
ES = kx = kx0 cos2 t
2
2
Moving mass has kinetic energy:
1
1
2
EK = mv = mx02 2 sin2 t
2
2
1 2 2
= kx0 sin t
Remember 2 = k/m
2
Therefore
1 2
ES + EK = kx0 = constant.
2

Energy Tossing
1 2
ES = kx0 cos2 t
2
1 2 2
EK = kx0 sin t
2

Energy moves
between the spring
and the mass,
keeping the total
constant

1 2
kx
2 0

ES
1 2
kx
2 0

EK
1 2
kx
2 0

ES
EK

Complex exponential
We know both cost and sint are solutions

The general solution is therefore

x(t) = a cos t + b sin t

for arbitrary values of a and b

Its more convenient to use complex exponential eit

As we have learned in 15b/153

Next four slides are reminders on complex numbers

Complex Numbers
I assume you are familiar with complex numbers

A few reminders to make sure we got the key concepts

Complex plane
Real part
Imaginary part

Complex conjugate

Absolute Value and Argument

For a complex number z,

The distance |z| from 0 is the absolute value:

z = a2 + b2

The angle is the argument, or phase:

= arg(z)
z may be expressed as:

z = z (cos + i sin ) = z e i
using Eulers identity

e i = cos + i sin

Eulers Identity
e i = cos + i sin
This is a natural extension of the real exponential

Check this with Taylor expansion

1 2 1 3 1 4
1 5
e = 1+ x + x + x +
x +
x + ...
2
6
24
120
1 2 i 3 1 4
i
ix
e = 1+ ix x x +
x +
x 5 + ...
2
6
24
120
x

1 2 1 4
cos(x) = 1 x +
x ...
2
24

1 3
1 5
sin(x) = x x +
x ...
6
120

Complex Plane
ei goes around the unit circle on the complex plane.
Im

e i = cos + i sin

Re

http://xkcd.com/179/

Complex Solutions
d 2x
Revisit the simple harmonic oscillator: 2 = 2 x
Xt
dt
Substitute x = e

d 2e Xt
2 Xt
2 Xt
=
X
e
=

e
2
dt

X 2 = 2

X = i

We got two complex solutions to a harmonic oscillator

x(t) = e i t
They are complex conjugates of each other
Generally, if you have a complex solution z(t) for an equation of
motion, the complex conjugate z*(t) must also be a solution

d 2 z(t)
2
=

z(t)
2
dt

d 2 z*(t)
2
=

z*(t)
2
dt

Complex Real Solutions

Since the equation of motion is linear, any linear
combination of z(t) and z*(t) is also a solution, i.e.,
x(t) = z(t) + z (t) where , are complex constants

Physical solution x(t) must be real

x(t) + x (t) ( z(t) + z (t)) ( z (t) + z(t))

Im(x(t)) =
=

2i
2i
( )z(t) ( )z (t)
=
= Im ( )z(t) = 0
2i

x(t) = z(t) + z (t) = 2Re( z(t))

Therefore

Ignoring the factor 2, this is the real part of { arbitrary complex

number times one of the solutions z(t) }

Complex Real Solutions

Generally, when z(t) and z*(t) are complex solutions of an
equation of motion, real (=physical) solutions are found by
taking the real part of z(t), where is an arbitrary
complex constant
Going back to the harmonic oscillator:

Expressing = a + ib, we get

x(t) = Re (a ib)e i t = Re (a ib)(cos t + i sin t)

= a cos t + b sin t

This is the general solution, as we knew from the beginning

We will use this recipe throughout the course

Ubiquity of Harmonic Oscillators

Harmonic oscillators equation of motion:
d 2x
m 2 = kx
Hookes Law force
dt
The restoring force kx is linear with x
This is not exactly true in most cases
Springs do not follow Hookes law beyond elastic limits

Still, the physical world is full of almost-harmonic oscillators

And for a good reason

Pendulum
A pendulum swings because of the combined
force of the gravity mg and the string tension T
Combined force is mg sin
Displacement from the equilibrium is L
Force is not linear with displacement

A pendulum is not a harmonic oscillator

Taylor-expand F = mg sin around = 0
sin = sin 0 + (sin ) =0 + 21 (sin )=0 2 +

mg sin
mg

1
= 61 3 + 120
5 +

For small angle ,

( ) = mL = mg + O(

d 2 L
dt

Almost linear

Taylor Expansion
Any (smooth) function f(x) can be approximated around a
given point x = a as:
1
1 n
2
f (x) f (a) + f (a)(x a) + f (a)(x a) + + f (a)(x a)n +
2
n!

You are already familiar with this

The approximation is better when x a is small

Because the higher-order terms (x a)n shrinks faster

Potential Energy
Look at the same problem with the potential energy
At angle , the mass m is higher than
the lowest position by h = L(1 cos)
The potential energy is
EP = mgh = mgL(1 cos)

Taylor-expand EP around = 0

EP = mgL(1 cos ) 21 mgL 2

cos = 1 21 2 +

Differentiating the energy by displacement

gives you the force

1 d 1
2
F=
=
mgL = mg

dx
L d 2

dEP

OK, we got the linear force again

1
24

h
x

Linearizing Equation of Motion

We can often linearize the equation of motion for small
oscillation around a stable point (equilibrium)

Why?
Anything that is stable is at a minimum
of the potential energy E
Lets call it x = 0
Taylor expansion of E near x = 0 is

1
1
2
E(x) = E(0) + E (0)x + E (0)x + E (0)x 3 + ...
2
6

Since x = 0 is a local minimum, E(0) = 0 and E(0) > 0

For small oscillations, higher-order terms (x3, x4, ) can be ignored

1
E(x) E(0) + E (0)x 2
2

A simple parabola

Ubiquity of Harmonic Oscillators

This gives a linear force

dE
F=
E (0)x
dx
Every physically stable object can
make harmonic oscillation
Stable object sits where the potential energy
is minimum
The potential near the minimum looks like a
parabola
Its derivative gives a linear restoring force

E(x) E(0) +

1
E (0)x 2
2

This is true for small oscillation

How small depend on how the potential looks like
We observe oscillation only when small is large enough

Summary
Analyzed a simple harmonic oscillator

d 2 x(t)
= kx(t)
The equation of motion: m
2
dt

The general solution:

Frequency, period, energy conservation

k
x(t) = a cos t + b sin t where =
m
Studied the solution

Learned to deal with complex exponentials

Makes it easy to solve linear differential equations

Studied how the equation of motion can be linearized for

small oscillations

Taylor expansion of the potential near the minimum

Next: damped and driven oscillators