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Home Q & A Board Science-Related Homework Help Physics
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smj545 smj545
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11 years ago
Why is a bouncing ball not an example of simple harmonic motion?

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#1
11 years ago
It would be periodic motion.  It doesn't follow a sinusoidal curve, because the bounce gets less and less each time.  If you imagine a bouncing ball, it's maximum velocity is right before and right after it hits the ground.  In simple harmonic motion, the maximum velocity occurs in the middle of the amplitude.
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#2
11 years ago
Because the ball doesn't bounce symmetrically...dunno how to explain it.   Harmonic motion is when something goes back and forth, like a spring or something spinning, about a central axis.  Balls don't do that
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#3
11 years ago
Because the acting force is not of the form F = -kx.
In the motion of a bouncing ball, during most of the time the force is F = mg, and the motion is either uniformly accelerated or uniformly retarded.
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#4
11 years ago
Because it's not simple.  Even if you make the necessary simplifying assumptions that the bounce is lossless, motion is purely vertical, and there's no spin, the bounce force is not linear with distance.  It's very small at first contact, but much stronger than linear at maximum distortion.  It is always influenced by gravity, but influenced by the spring-like force only when it's in contact with the ground.
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