The classical harmonic oscillator is one of the most important topics in physics.  The phenomenon is found in many systems ranging from large structures such as the behavior of bridges and skyscrapers subjected to forces to the atomic level where resonant absorption of electromagnetic radiation produces unique spectra revealing the atomic or molecular identity of the absorbing materials.  As an interesting historical note, the discovery of helium was made by observing the atomic spectra of our sun and later on it was discovered on Earth, hence the element's name taken from the Greek word for the sun; Helios.

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The content of this site is the solutions of the one-dimensional oscillator problems from Chapter 2 of Keith Symon's Classical Mechanics.  The single mass, single restoring force is presented here with coupled oscillators and higher dimensional systems addressed later in the text.  The purpose of this site is to provide a resource for those interested in the physics of this fundamental behavior or as a refresher for the more experienced person. 

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Keith Symon's textbook on classical mechanics was first published in 1957 and the final and third edition was published in 1971.  The textbook is regarded as one of the better for the upper level undergraduate's introduction to classical mechanics for its rigor and thought provoking problems.  Although not as explicit or verbose as other textbooks on the subject of classical mechanics, it has been found if one can solve the Symon problems, most of the other same level textbook problems can be easily completed.​

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Harmonic Oscillator Solutions

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