CAIE FP2 2008 November — Question 5

Exam BoardCAIE
ModuleFP2 (Further Pure Mathematics 2)
Year2008
SessionNovember
TopicSimple Harmonic Motion

5 A particle of mass \(m\) moves in a straight line \(A B\) of length \(2 a\). When the particle is at a general point \(P\) there are two forces acting, one in the direction \(\overrightarrow { P A }\) with magnitude \(m g \left( \frac { P A } { a } \right) ^ { - \frac { 1 } { 4 } }\) and the other in the direction \(\overrightarrow { P B }\) with magnitude \(m g \left( \frac { P B } { a } \right) ^ { \frac { 1 } { 2 } }\). At time \(t = 0\) the particle is released from rest at the point \(C\), where \(A C = 1.04 a\). At time \(t\) the distance \(A P\) is \(a + x\). Show that the particle moves in approximate simple harmonic motion. Using the approximate simple harmonic motion, find the speed of \(P\) when it first reaches the mid-point of \(A B\) and the time taken for \(P\) to first reach half of this speed.