In an oscillating spring–mass system, a spring is connected to a box filled with sand. As the box oscillates, sand leaks slowly out of the box vertically so that the average frequency and average amplitude of the system change with time . Which one of the following options (graphs shown) schematically depicts these changes correctly?
Solution
, so as sand leaves and falls, rises and levels off. Each grain that leaves carries away its share of the kinetic energy, so the oscillator's energy decreases and the amplitude falls — option (2).
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