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If the mass attached to a spring is increased and the constant is decreased, does the period of the oscillating motion increase, decrease or
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Answers ( )
Answer:
Increase
Explanation:
The period of an oscillating system is the time it takes for the system to complete 1 oscillation.
The period of a spring-mass oscillating system is given by
where
k is the spring constant
m is the mass
We see that:
– The period is proportional to the square root of the mass: so as the mass increases, the period increases too (1)
– The period is inversely proportional to the square root of the spring constant: so as the constant decreases, the period increases (2)
In this problem:
– The mass of the system is increased
– The spring constant is decreased
Therefore, according to observations (1) and (2), the period of the system will increase.