Simple Harmonic Motion Ques 68

  1. A particle of mass $m$ is executing oscillation about the origin on the $X$-axis. Its potential energy is $U(x)=k|x|^{3}$, where $k$ is a positive constant. If the amplitude of oscillation is $a$, then its time period $T$ is

$(1998,2 M)$

(a) proportional to $1 / \sqrt{a}$

(b) independent of $a$

(c) proportional to $\sqrt{a}$

(d) proportional to $a^{3 / 2}$

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Answer:

Correct Answer: 68.(a)

Solution:

Formula:

Potential Energy (PE) :

  1. $U(x)=k|x|^{3}$

$\therefore \quad[k]=\frac{[U]}{\left[x^{3}\right]}=\frac{\left[ML^{2} T^{-2}\right]}{\left[L^{3}\right]}=\left[ML^{-1} T^{-2}\right]$

Now, time period may depend on

$ \begin{aligned} T & \propto(\text { mass })^{x}(\text { amplitude })^{y}(k)^{z} \\ {\left[M^{0} L^{0} T\right] } & =[M]^{x}[L]^{y}\left[ML^{-1} T^{-2}\right]^{z} \\ & =\left[M^{x+z} L^{y-z} T^{-2 z}\right] \end{aligned} $

Equating the powers, we get

$ \begin{aligned} & -2 z=1 \quad \text { or } \quad z=-1 / 2 \\ & y-z=0 \text { or } y=z=-1 / 2 \end{aligned} $

Hence, $\left.T \propto(\text { amplitude })^{-1 / 2}\right) \propto(a)^{-1 / 2}$

$ \text { or } \quad T \propto \frac{1}{\sqrt{a}} $



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