Pasco Harmonic Motion Machine
Rotating Mass on a Spring App.

 

Code Number: 3A60.40

Demo Title: Driven Resonance - Pasco Oscillator and Rotating Mass on a Spring

Condition: Good

Principle: Simple Harmonic Motion

Area of Study: Oscillations & Acoustics

Equipment: 

Pasco Harmonic Motion Machine, Masses for Machine (2 of them and 50 g each), and Rotating Mass on a Spring App.

Procedure:

Practice will be needed for the Pasco machine. Resonance for the Pasco machine should be around 1.79 to 1.81 HZ.  There are accessories available for this unit that allow you to do damped, critically damped, and overdamped demo examples.  There is also a variable gap horseshoe magnet that can be attached to one of the Pasco machines to provide varying amounts of damping.   

The rotating mass has masses that can be added which will allow it to rotate out of balance.  Hang the rotating mass by its spring on a very sturdy rod and crossrbar.  Spin the mass and as it slows down in will eventually send the system into resonance as evidenced by a very large oscillation.

References:

  • Yajun Wei, "An Entertaining Resonance Experiment with Just Two Spring Scales", TPT, Vol. 62, #2, Feb. 2024, p. 90.
  • William Dittrich, Leonid Minkin, and Alexander S. Shapovalov, "Mechanical Parametric Oscillations and Waves", TPT, Vol. 51, #3, Mar. 2013, p. 163.
  • Ken Taylor, "Resonance Effects in Magnetically Driven Mass‐Spring Oscillations", TPT, Vol. 49, #1, Jan. 2011, p. 49.
  • Michael C. LoPresto and Paul R. Holody, "Drag Forces, Authors' Response", TPT, Vol. 41, #5, May  2003, p. 262.
  • A. John Mallinckrodt, "Drag Forces", TPT, Vol. 41, #5, May. 2003, p. 261. 
  • Michael C. LoPresto and Paul R. Holody, "Measuring the Damping Constant for Underdamped Harmonic Motion", TPT, Vol. 40, #1, Jan. 2003, p. 22.
  • Chris A. Gaffney and David Kagan, "Beats in an Oscillator Near Resonance", TPT, Vol. 40, #7, Oct. 2002, p. 405.
  • Walter Roy Mellen, "Spring String Swing Thing", TPT, Vol. 32, #2, Feb. 1994, p. 122.
  • Fabrizio Pinto, "Parametric Resonance: An Introductory Experiment", TPT, Vol. 31, #6, Sept. 1993, p. 336.
  • W. Herreman, "The Transient Phenomena of Forced Vibrations", TPT, Vol. 29, #3, Mar. 1991, p. 187.
  • P. Coullet, J. M. Gilli, M. Monticelli, and N. Vandenberghe, "A Damped Pendulum Forced With a Constant Torque", AJP, Vol. 73, #12, Dec. 2005, p. 1122.
  • P. J. Ouseph and John P. Ouseph, "Electromagnetically Driven Resonance Apparatus", AJP, Vol. 55, #12, Dec. 1987, p. 1126.
  • Lee E. Larson, "Interfacing the PASCO Simple Harmonic Motion Apparatus to a Microcomputer", AJP, Vol. 55, #7, July 1987, p. 667.
  • J. L. Hunt, "Forced and Damped Harmonic Oscillator Experiment Using an Accelerometer", AJP, Vol. 53, #3, Mar. 1985, p. 278.
  • Mark A. Heald, "How Do You Know When You've Got Critical Damping?", AJP, Vol. 46, #10, Oct. 1978, p. 989.
  • Robert Ehrlich, "G.5. Mass on a Spring", Turning the World Inside Out and 174 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations, p. 93 - 94.
  • George M. Hopkins, "Harmonic Vibrations", Experimental Science, p. 126 - 129.
3A60.40 - Driven Resonance - PASCO Oscillator