The concepts of Kinetic Energy (KE), Potential Energy (PE), and Total Energy of an oscillator are fundamental in understanding the behavior of simple harmonic motion.
Kinetic Energy:
- It is the energy an object possesses due to its motion. In the case of an SHM oscillator, the kinetic energy varies with the velocity of the oscillator.
- At the points of maximum velocity, the kinetic energy is maximum and at the points of minimum velocity, it is minimum.
Potential Energy:
- It is the energy an object possesses due to its position. In the case of an SHM oscillator, the potential energy varies with the displacement of the oscillator from its mean or rest position.
- At the points of maximum displacement, the potential energy is maximum and at the points of zero displacement, it is minimum.
Total Energy:
- The total energy of an SHM oscillator is equal to the sum of its kinetic and potential energies.
- The total energy of an SHM oscillator is a constant value, which means that the total energy remains the same throughout the oscillation.
- This property of the SHM oscillator is known as the law of conservation of energy.
It can be noted that the total energy of an SHM oscillator remains constant because the energy lost due to friction and other dissipative forces is negligible. Thus, the energy lost as kinetic energy is gained as potential energy and vice versa. This results in the total energy remaining constant.