Investigating the Oscillations of a Mass on a Spring

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Investigating the Oscillations of a Mass on a Spring

Aim:

In this physics coursework, I'm here to investigate the oscillations

of a mass of a spring. In this investigation, the oscillation means

the wave moving with periodic regularity. In this investigation, I can

use any mass and many springs, so that I can investigate the

oscillations.

Variables:

I believe there are many factors or variables, which can affect the

time for 1 oscillation. These can be:

· Mass of weight - I believe it will have a very big impact on the

time for oscillations.

· Number of springs - The number of springs will affect the affect the

time for oscillations a lot just like the number of mass, because of

the strength of the springs, and this depends on the number of

springs. The number of springs can affect the strength of springs and

this depends on the arrangement of the springs, which will be shown

much more detailed below.

· Arrangement of springs - First of all, there are 2 ways to arrange

the springs, and they are: Series or Parallel. Springs in series

extend further than springs in parallel. Also, during the trial

experiment I discovered that springs in parallel do not extend in a

straight line, they move from side to side and the springs can be

tangled up and this could be a major problem. Therefore, this would

affect the time taken to complete the given number of oscillations.

So, I will only do the springs in series, as the longer the extension,

the more accurate and complex the results will be. So, the arrangement

of springs will also affect the time taken to complete the given

number of oscillations. It can affect the spring constant, because

when the n number of springs of the same type is used in parallel, the

value of spring constant is n times larger than the spring constant of

one spring. When n springs of the same type are used in serial, the

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