A large water tower holds 3 million gallons of water, which has a mass of about 11 million kilograms. When the wind blows, this causes the steel structure to sway back and forth due to the force. An engineer studying the tower observes that a steady wind at a speed of 35 mph exerts a force of 1.45 million Newtons on the tower, causing it to lean 0.27 meters away from equilibrium. The engineer begins by assuming that the restoring force is proportional to the displacement F = –kx, so that the motion of the system can be modeled by the differential equation mx" + kx = 0. Here m is the mass of the tower, k is the spring constant, and x is the displacement of the tower away from its equilibrium position. (a) What is the spring constant k of the steel structure? Be sure to use the right units! (b) Write the general solution to the differential equation. (c) What is the angular frequency w at which the tower oscillates?

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Chapter3: Additional Topics In Trigonometry
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Ordinary Partial diff. eqn. 

Solve question 2. a, b, c,d and e.

2. A large water tower holds 3 million gallons of water, which has a mass of about 11 million kilograms.
When the wind blows, this causes the steel structure to sway back and forth due to the force. An
engineer studying the tower observes that a steady wind at a speed of 35 mph exerts a force of 1.45
million Newtons on the tower, causing it to lean 0.27 meters away from equilibrium. The engineer
begins by assuming that the restoring force is proportional to the displacement F = -kx, so that
the motion of the system can be modeled by the differential equation mx" + kx = 0. Here m is the
mass of the tower, k is the spring constant, and x is the displacement of the tower away from its
equilibrium position.
(a) What is the spring constant k of the steel structure? Be sure to use the right units!
(b) Write the general solution to the differential equation.
(c) What is the angular frequency w at which the tower oscillates?
(d) Suppose that the tower is sitting comfortably in equilibrium when a sudden brief gust of wind
gives the tower a velocity of 0.24 meters per second. What function will describe how the position
of the tower changes after this?
(e) Make a plot of the position function from (d).
Transcribed Image Text:2. A large water tower holds 3 million gallons of water, which has a mass of about 11 million kilograms. When the wind blows, this causes the steel structure to sway back and forth due to the force. An engineer studying the tower observes that a steady wind at a speed of 35 mph exerts a force of 1.45 million Newtons on the tower, causing it to lean 0.27 meters away from equilibrium. The engineer begins by assuming that the restoring force is proportional to the displacement F = -kx, so that the motion of the system can be modeled by the differential equation mx" + kx = 0. Here m is the mass of the tower, k is the spring constant, and x is the displacement of the tower away from its equilibrium position. (a) What is the spring constant k of the steel structure? Be sure to use the right units! (b) Write the general solution to the differential equation. (c) What is the angular frequency w at which the tower oscillates? (d) Suppose that the tower is sitting comfortably in equilibrium when a sudden brief gust of wind gives the tower a velocity of 0.24 meters per second. What function will describe how the position of the tower changes after this? (e) Make a plot of the position function from (d).
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