Physics

Problem

The displacement of an ideal mass-spring oscillator is described by

x=A\cos(\omega t)

, where

\omega

is the angular frequency. Which of the following time dependences could represent the oscillator’s elastic potential energy

U(t)

? a)

U=U_{\max}\cos(2\omega t)

U=U_{\max}\cos^{2}(\omega t)

U=U_{\max}\cos(\omega t)

U=U_{\max}\sin^{2}(\omega t)