Novel Approaches to Solve Simple Harmonic Motion

Abstract

This paper presents two novel approaches to solve the classic simple harmonic motion. In one approach, the distance between the equilibrium position and the maximal displacement is divided into N equal segments. In each segment, the mass moves with constant acceleration under the average of two forces at the ends of the segment. Summing up the time covering each segment and taking the large-N limit reproduce one quarter of the period for simple harmonic motion. In the other approach, the time moving from the maximal displacement to the equilibrium position is divided into N equal intervals. A recurrence relation for the displacement is obtained. The large-N limit of its solution results in the same solution as that obtained from solving differential equation.