SHM Characteristics

The equilibrium point is where the object comes to rest, in the simple pendulum it at its lowest point.

If we displace the object by a displacement of x there will be a force that brings the object back to the equilibrium point. We call this the restoring force and it always acts in the opposite direction to the displacement.

We can represent this as:

Since we can also write:

For an object to be moving with simple harmonic motion, its acceleration must satisfy two conditions:

*The acceleration is proportional to the displacement

*The acceleration is in the opposite direction to the displacement (towards the equilibrium point)