Why does the period of oscillation for a mass on a spring depend on its mass? (while in other situations, like a simple pendulum, the mass seems to be unimportant)
Ok that makes sense, except I'm still confused about what forces to include on the free body diagram for the mass when its at the midpoint. Is it just the weight force, or is there a spring force that I also have to account for?
If there are two identical springs with same length and spring constant, why would the combination of the two springs in parallel be stiffer (that is have a greater spring constant) than the springs alone?
No there isn't. So does that mean that the free body diagram at the midpoint would only have the downward force of the weight of the mass?
And would that also mean that the acceleration of the mass when it is at the midpoint is 0 (because acceleration is also dependent on the displacement)?
Homework Statement
What does the free body diagram look like for a mass on an oscillating spring, when the mass is at its midpoint.
Homework Equations
F=-kx
The Attempt at a Solution
I'm not sure how an oscillating spring FBD is different from one for a non-oscillating spring. I...