In an oscillating spring mass system, a spring is connected to a box filled with sand. As the box oscillates, sand leaks slowly out of the box vertically so that the average frequency and average amplitude of the system change with time . Which one of the following options schematically depicts these changes correctly?
- A
- B
- C
- D
The angular frequency of a spring-mass system is . As sand leaks out, decreases, so increases, eventually saturating when essentially no sand remains.
The total energy of SHM is . Sand carries energy away as it leaks out (it falls away with some KE/PE), so total energy of the oscillator decreases, and hence the amplitude decreases with time.
rises and saturates; decays. This matches option 2.
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