StellarDisplacements
For an object in simple harmonic motion, its position can be graphed as a cosine or sine function, depending on if the object starts at the amplitude or the equilibrium point respectively. The amplitude of an oscillation is the furthest point from the equilibrium that an oscillation reaches. It is important to note that changing the amplitude of an oscillation will not affect its period, since none of the simple harmonic equations have both period and amplitude.
- represents the position of the simple harmonic motion with respect to time
- is the amplitude of the oscillation
- is the angular frequency of oscillation
- is the point in time at which the position is measured
Note that this equation uses cosine to represent the object being at the amplitude at . An equation with sine can be used if the object starts from the equilibrium.