Is puck executing simple harmonic motion


An air puck bounces back and forth between two parallel walls (always traveling perpendicular to the walls). Each time it hits a wall it receives a slight "kick" (the walls are attached to high speed transducers which provide the necessary kick) to compensate for any energy losses so that the puck always has the same speed after each collision as it had before the collision. The walls are separated by 50.0 cm and the puck takes 2.00 s to go from one wall to the other on each transit.

(a) Draw a position vs. time graph and a velocity vs. time graph for the puck. Make your axes reasonably accurate and show at least two cycles of the motion. What are the period and frequency of the motion?

(b) Is the puck executing simple harmonic motion? Why or why not?

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Physics: Is puck executing simple harmonic motion
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