Question

The restoring force in simple harmonic motion is _________ in magnitude when the particle is instantaneously at rest.

Answer 1

Explanation:

In a simple harmonic motion, the restoring force aims to bring the particle back to its mean position.

The equation of spring is given by,

$F=-kx$

Here,

$k$ is the spring constant.

$x$ is the displacement from the mean position.

(Negative sign indicates that the force acts opposite to displacement)

1. From the above equation, it is seen that the restoring force varies linearly with the displacement of the particle from its mean position.
2. A particle attains a state of instantaneous rest when its displacement from the mean position is maximum.

Hence, the restoring force in simple harmonic motion is maximum in magnitude when the particle is instantaneously at rest.